Marriages and Divorces

Lovely topic, eh?

Of all the people who get married, (enter statistic here) get divorced. I'll be honest and say I'm not sure what that statistic is (and I'm too lazy to look it up), but I can make my point without an exact percent. (Really, any amount of divorces is too many, so it shouldn't matter, right?)

So, (number of people again) get divorced. (You know, I want to say it's 50%, but I'm not positive....) there has to be a reason for this, right?

Now, I'm not a marriage expert. I mean, I'm a 17 year old. But, one of the answers seems pretty obvious to me:

GET TO KNOW THE PERSON BEFORE YOU AGREE TO SPEND YOUR LIFE WITH THEM.

So, of course, any couple will say "Oh, I DO know him/her. He/she CHANGED."

Okay, yes, that is possible. But it's seems (again not an expert and I don't follow EVERYBODY'S relationships) like a lot of people (18+ .... Well, even kids my age and younger...) are dating for a few months, or even a few weeks, then getting married.

When you go into a marriage it just seems like common sense to think about it critically. You should automatically ask yourself some questions about this person (men should ask these questions BEFORE the ask THE question):

Do I truly think I can live with this person for the rest of my life?

Does (s)he have any annoying habits? Are the habits something I can live with?

Am I ready for the stress of a wedding? The stress of living together, sharing money (unless there's a prenup), splitting payments, etc?

Am I REALLY willing to deal with this person through good times AND bad times?

Will I be accepting of the possible changes this person may make in his/her personality and will I be able to stick with them if my own views/morals/personality change?

And, of course, I'm sure there are many other questions everyone should ask themselves, but this is what I've got for now.

50% (yes I looked it up, finally. I was right^_^) of marriages end in divorce... All those wasted weddings. Wasted honeymoons. Wasted time. Wasted love. Wasted stress and pain. All for a divorce. I feel like that 50% would be smaller if a few people would think more logically about things....

I've been with my boyfriend for a year and seven months (as of the 1st of May). Am I sure that we will grow up and get married and live happily ever after? No. I don't know that. He doesn't know that (although, he'll probably tell you he is). Do I still love him? Yes. I do love him. But love is an emotion most people use incorrectly. You can't be ready to marry someone after a few months. All of those "cute stories" of love at first sight are crap. They were just lucky, or tolerant.