I Don't Need A Man

“I’m going to pray that you get a husband.”

How would you respond if someone said this to you?

Here was my response, “No don’t do that.  If you want to say a meaningful prayer for me, pray that my business grows leaps and bounds beyond my imagination.” Then, I walked away quickly. I walked away quickly because I had more to add; some nice additions, some not-so-nice, petty additions.

I started to wonder if the woman was married or had ever been married. Her comment to me meant that she assumed that marriage is something I aspire to. I thought Ms. I’ll Pray You Get a Husband Lady’s unsolicited almost-prayer was a generational “thing.”  I had forgotten about this exchange until recently. I keep getting asked, “Are you married” or “Have you been married” by people of broad age ranges. My next “wonder” is why is this the focus question as if the only, major thing in life is to be married.

If a woman wants to be married, that’s wonderful.  Just like it’s wonderful if she wants to travel the world, or become a speaker, a real estate mogul, an author, or a business owner, or all the above. She should have what she wants and shouldn’t accept anything else. Recently, I was in a group where the question, “What do you want to have accomplished in five years?” was posed to everyone. Do you want to guess what the most common answer was?! “I want to be married with kids.” (If you could see my face!)  On the other side of that, I will say that if marriage is a desire, that does not mean that marriage is the only thing on a life list.

However, marriage does not put the cherry on top of life.  Stay tuned for Part 2.

So, how would you respond if someone said this to you?