Love Beyond Numbers: Is Age Really a Factor in Marriage?

Marriage is another institution on its own, and before that institution begins, one of the things people usually talk about is the issue of age. But let's ask ourselves this question before I proceed. Do you think there should be a specific rule that guides the age bracket someone can only marry from? Let's say, for instance, the person should not be more than eight to nine years younger than you or older than you. On the news, this looks like something that everyone can work with, but when it comes to reality, most people do not because they set boundaries using love.

Personally, for me, though I am not yet married, getting married to someone should not be based on age but on how deeply you understand each other, the core values that you show, the responsibility of both parties involved, and the goals that you share together should not be left out. The reality of the matter here is that I have seen marriages where the couples are of almost the same age, but they crashed out within a few months into the marriage, and I have also seen couples whose age gap is like ten to twelve years different, and that marriage is still as solid as Olumo Rock, like they just began even though they have been through the hot and cold. So, answering the prompt and questions that most people do usually ask in general, is the age number really a thing that we can use to determine the strength of a marriage or love?

When we talk about the psychological aspect of this, we are all human, and I believe that we think differently and we are not the same. Some of us have this early maturity, while some have a very late maturity. Like we usually say in my culture, age is just a number; a forty-year-old person at times might be behaving like a kid, while you see someone who is just twenty years of age acting with the wisdom of Solomon.

If we all agree that the rules guiding marriage should be based solely on the age bracket, then I will say that we will be leaving out the reality of life that being compatible and mature is not all about age and that does not determine if they will make a good couple.

Come to think of it, the society of today only thinks about the number on the calendar and throwing away the truth that some people are older, but looking at them, they are not emotionally responsible.

And when it comes to our culture today, the marriage gap is something we all attach different importance to in a way that some people decide to go for someone who is older than them because of providing for them and stability; a lot of women will go for this, leaving out that youthful closeness. While others have this belief that if they marry someone of the same age bracket, they will feel the companionship and closeness they want. But everyone has their reasons based on the way they were brought up, their historical background, and maybe how the society and their environment have influenced them.

But to be sincere here, a big age gap difference looks like a very big concern in a way that a man of 28 years old marrying a woman of 45 years old, or a lady of 25 years old getting married to a man of 50 years old, might constitute an imbalance, misunderstanding, power struggles, and even different life expectancies. Yet, bad-mouthing such a union does not mean that it will stop but will only give more room to secret marriages of such, where more problems are created.

But what I will always stand on is marriages should not be forced; there should be liberty when it comes to choosing who you want by wisdom, and our society should do well by making sure that strong age rules are put aside and focus on how to make the union healthy because what really matters is the shared values, respect, love, maturity, and communication, and not just the number of birthdays the person has celebrated.

Like I said in one of the paragraphs, age is just a number, and when love comes in, it won't look at the number on your birthday certificate because when two hearts genuinely click, the age gap fades away, and what is left is the timeless 2geda 4ever.

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Thank you for reading.

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