Life has never been easy for women. The society expects you to follow its unwritten rules dictating love, marriage and reproduction. 1. Everyone has to get married. 2. You’ve got to marry within your community. 3. You must produce a crop of healthy kids within 2-3 years of marriage. You have to spend your life with your husband no matter how uninteresting, loveless, torturous or unhappy it may be.

But things are changing now and more and more women have started questioning the worth of these rules. Why should anyone be forced into marriage just because he/she has arrived at a particular age? Why should you be expected to reproduce, even if you don’t want to? And why should a loveless and unhappy marriage continue all through life?

Here are a few issues and dilemmas that plague women who contemplate getting out of a loveless marriage:

Feeling Guilty

If you are on the verge of getting divorced, please stop feeling guilty or worthless. This is one mistake that most women make. You need to understand that all circumstances are not in your control. If either one of you feels that the marriage is no longer worth continuing, then you’ve just got to move on.

Will The Society Accept Me?

One of the reasons for feeling guilty may be the fear of not being accepted by the society. But what is the society? “We” make the society! The society cannot change o its own. We’ve got to usher in the change, Right? And Indians today are much more receptive to divorce than they were a few years back.

Is It Right?

Your happiness is the most important thing in your life. If you are not happy in your marriage, then stop pulling it on and on for the sake of the society. All the friends and relatives who matter, would want to see you happy, right? And the ones who put so-called-values/culture before your happiness, should not matter to you. You have every right to happiness, just like other people. Just remember that, when you take a decision.

I Still Love Him

If you are sure that you love him, it is worth another try. Give your marriage another shot. Has “he” fallen out of love with you? Is it your in-laws who are responsible for the break-up? Is he not happy with you? All these problems have solutions. Have you really tried them all? If love has not gone out of the window yet, you should not give up so soon!

What About The Future?

The future can take care of itself. If you are working, you need not worry about the finances. If you are not, hopefully the alimony will take care of you. But you should still pick up skills/education that will help you get into a career. A career is important not only for the money, but also to fill the void left in your life by the divorce.

And about moving on, it is always possible. Who knows, you might find your soul mate pretty soon! Give love and marriage another chance. And if you don’t want to, life can still be good. Just remember that you are doing this for your happiness and peace of mind. So do things that make you happy.