10 Tips For Marrying The Wrong Person

Here we are, in the final installment of You Married the Wrong One, this time taking a sharp look at how to choose the best one out of all the wrong ones out there.

 

Confused yet?

 

The sad but true fact is you will marry someone who will exasperate you, hurt you, and make you angry. They will be lazy, depressed, self-centered, annoying, foolish and stinky on occasion.

 

This Is True.

 

BUT, you will also marry someone who will make you laugh, be fun to be around, and fill your life with a greater richness.

 

Now that sounds good, doesn’t it?

 

How do you make the right choice for the one who will bring you more joy than heartache? I’ve already covered finding someone you love rather than lust for, but I have a little more to add.

 

Just say No.

 

Nope, it’s not just a slogan from the ’80s and my beloved Nancy Reagan, it’s a real phrase we should all be using regularly but especially when it comes for our search for The One.

 

The authors of a book I haven’t read, How To Marry The Wrong Guy: A Guide For Avoiding the Biggest Mistake of Your Life, were quoted in an article I did read that they discovered three out of ten divorced people will admit they knew they were making a mistake as they were walking down the aisle.

 

According to the authors most women (and men) who want to cancel their weddings don’t.

 

“I couldn’t believe how many people confessed that they knew they were making a mistake as they were walking down the aisle,” says author Anne Milford. “I had people of all ages tell me this over and over again. They’ve said ‘I do’ — when they really wanted to scream ‘I don’t’.”

 

This may sound melodramatic except it resonates with me very strongly.

 

Because before I met my true love I was engaged to another man. *gasp*

 

I am a woman of broken betrothal.

 

He was a great guy, now married to someone else and doing lovely things with his life. And there was nothing wrong with our relationship.

 

My logic told me to marry him, as we had dated for a year, were planning to be engaged for a year and then get married. We followed the expected formula for a relationship. There were no issues. He was great.

 

But when he asked me to marry him in a terribly romantic proposal with a terribly large diamond ring… my inside was saying, “No!” while my mouth was saying, “Yes!”

 

I was the woman who couldn’t say, “No.”

 

We were engaged for several months before I called it off. I still hate that I hurt him so badly, because there was no reason I could give him for breaking the engagement except, “It just isn’t right.”

 

Which is a pretty poor reason, all things considered.

 

(Who’s the jerk? “I am! I am! I was a jerk even before I knew him, me! Me! Me!”)

 

But after I met Lizard… I knew why my gut had said “no.” It was because I hadn’t met my “yes” yet.

 

That experience cemented my belief in breaking off a relationship even if it doesn’t make “sense” when the base-level feeling isn’t, “Yes!”

 

Some more guidelines to choosing your special someone, the one you’d rather fight with than anyone else:

 

Don’t Pick Someone…

 

1. You expect will change or mature out of bad behaviors after you’re married.
2. Who makes your heart go pitter-patter when your brain isn’t engaged as well.
3. Without the same spiritual and life goals.
4. Because you had sex with them.
5. You don’t honestly admire. Their influence should make you want to be a better version of yourself.
6. You can’t be open and honest with.
7. Because you’re running from your own personal trash pile.
8. Because you’re afraid of being alone.
9. Because they’re the only one who’s ever wanted you and there may not be anyone else wanting you. Ever.
10. To make your family or friends happy. 

 

Got that? JUST SAY NO!!!

 

I expect by tomorrow I’ll be back in the saddle again with my quirky take on exciting things like laundry, parenting, and the joys of garage sales. In the meantime, let me know what you think of this One That Got Away/Wrong Person series. And… give me your own submissions for the worst story lines ever!

 

This post was originally published October 1, 2011 and is being recycled as part of the “I’ve Been Around” summer! Hope you enjoyed it and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!