A rush of chilliness ran down my spine when he asked me if I wanted to move in with him. I stood there, dazzled and confused at the same time. Did I hear it right? Or maybe he meant something else? A sense of delight was slowly chipping in but I kept a blank face on, holding my ground, waiting for him to come again. As startled as I was, I didn’t want to give that away. I slowly moved towards him pretending as if I haven’t heard him in the first instance. “Sorry,” I said. “I guess I couldn’t hear you”, gently sliding that strand of hair that was covering my left eye while the right lay glued at him, catching every last bit of reaction I could gather. He, for once hesitated, and then mustering up his voice said again, “Do you wanna Move in with me?”. And there I could see him turning pale as if he had seen a ghost. While I, on the other hand, was trying to control my laughter on looking at his face which was showing signs of uncertainty and fear. I leaned towards him wrapping my hands around his shoulders, staring him in the eye and said, “I thought you would never ask.” and that was our moment, A moment to cherish. While the sun was setting down, giving way to the moon, the sea met the horizon, crimson redness scattering all around as if it’s giving an approval for us to be together.
But it was a day later when reality struck. LIVE-IN was supposedly a huge deal for people around. I couldn’t understand why. I mean, It’s me who is the one who will be impacted and it’s everyone else around who are feeling the heat. Why so? Well maybe because it’s their job to judge! But then I don’t know what makes them judge it anyway. Two grown-up individuals who like each other decide to live together under one roof. Where in this world does that sound Corrupted? And yet, It’s frowned upon. It’s easy to judge others but then judging someone on the basis of a preconceived bias which is all but positive might be termed as a jerk move. (Oh Damn. Are the moral police reading this? :3)
Pic Courtesy: https://youtu.be/O6233wzermI
Let’s get into some statistics while we are talking about this to make it a solid research supported account about the new kid on the block, and most importantly, one who is here to stay, Live-in Relationship! The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development reports that more than half (54 percent) of all first marriages between 1990 and 1994 began with unmarried cohabitation. This said I guess more than half of the people can’t be that wrong. Eh?
BUT BUT BUT, There always has to be a but. Isn’t it? 😂
Live-In comes with its own share of problems and downfalls. Let’s me try to lay that down too :
- Living together is considered to be more stressful than being married.
- Just over 50% of couples who have lived-in ever get married.
- Couples who lived together before marriage tend to divorce early in their marriage.
- Compared to married individuals, those cohabiting have higher levels of depression and substance abuse.
Should that stop us from getting into one? Naah. We are the Millennials. We love to live dangerously. But then again completely ignoring the fact and the noticed patterns would be a foolish move. It’s always the decision of the couple. What can be done is put in the rationality of thoughts about your motivation for living together.
Is it just out of convenience?
Is it to spend more time together?
Are you uncertain about the relationship and want to make a more informed decision?
Or, is it just a prelude to marriage?
What’s need to be Kept in mind is that couples who live together seem to have the most successful outcomes when they have already made a clear commitment to each other.
Let me try to draw a line to this now for two reasons.
One, He is getting bored and I can’t see him wait on me while I am glued to my screen.
Two, The first reason is important enough. 😉
Last but not the least guys. Whether you choose to live under the same roof or miles apart. Distance is never a problem when you love someone. It’s always about priorities and if you could make the person of your life your priority. Then trust me, all these statistics and research would be of no use at all.
BECAUSE LOVE IS WHAT LOVE WANTS! 😋
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