This is a timely question for me, since I received a serious marriage proposal from an ex-boyfriend the other day. It was a huge compliment, but I turned it down. I'm not going to settle for less than what feels right.

yep

I'm with amro 100% on this. I can always be that creepy old woman with six dozen cats! :P

Nothing at all.
Settling makes no one happy.

Damn.
*returns ring to store*

wait, we are talking about sex this time, right?

A gay.

I never settled when I married mr. g.

There are way more serious answers here than I expected. Get cynical people!

"A gay."

That's right, a gay.

There are way more serious answers here than I expected. Get cynical people!

Fine then, less serious: I will settle for marrying a prince from some little known country that doesn't have much of an interest in their royals. That way, I can be a princess, but I won't have to deal with the paparazzi all the time.

Sweet!
*gets ring back*

That reminds me: the other day, my daughter was singing in the car, and I asked her if she wanted to be singer when she grew up. She got this "god my dad is stupid" look on her face and said "No, daddy, I'm going to be a princess." Oh. My mistake.

But gaspode, your husband is so short! Doesn't it make you feel unfeminine?

::laughs, ducks::

I think my person does exist, because I'm pretty realistic. Don't think I'll need to be settling, since I've never had fantasies of finding sheer perfection.

...a straight guy. Easier lay, by far.

piii-iiinky come heeee-eeerree.

a mammal.

Fuck friends?

::hides behind jonmc to avoid gaspode's wrath::

I guess I'm another tick in the "rather be a cat lady" column here.

Being the crazy dog lady.

Actually I sort of had a "Eureka" moment about this last month. Nothing really happened to set it off, but I realized that maybe there are some people who are not meant to end up in a pair, who are meant to be eternal free agents, and I am probably one of them. And I'm okay with that. Oh sure, if the right person comes along, I'm not going to shove them out the door or anything, but if he never comes along, it was never meant to happen.

I don't subscribe to sisterhavana's idea of things being "meant" one way or another. But:

The people who intone "there's someone for everyone" drive me stark staring bonkers. Especially when they're otherwise hardnosed, scientific-type people who'd never countenance any other comparably wacko superstition.

I didn't settle - that mysterious Mr Right is actually out there and will hit you like a ton of bricks when you least expect it. True. and I'm not just trying to drive tangerine bonkers...

I'm with tangerine. I don't really think there's 'The One' out there, marked for you. I think there are many people who could be a good partner, and the art of true love is finding one at the right time, who's at the right time in their lives for you, and making that agreement that you'll be there for each other.

One of my good friends, who's in a very happily married couple, said wisely one night that love is a choice. It's a decision you make when you find someone who meets your basic requirements and who feels good and makes you feel good. Sure, that could be any number of people, but with this one you make the choice to stop throwing problems and objections at it, and you make the choice to designate them your main squeeze. Your love is the person, then, who you treat as your love. And in a good relationship, you keep making the choice every day.

And on some level, I think that even the people who believe in 'The One' just managed to do this instinctively, without thinking about it. So it looks like a lightning bolt from the outside, but it's really two people who met one another at the right time and pulled this trick off without hardly noticing.

I'm with dabitch, but I let the fucker get away. Being hit by a ton of bricks tends to disorient one. Especially when you're not expecting it. And I wasn't. Sigh.

God, I have it so good.

yep, wolfdaddy. i got hit by a ton of bricks and am still dealing with the emotional fallout.

sometimes i think i could settle, some nice companionship, but deep down i know i'd be climbing out a window screaming in no time.

it's moot
i'm pointlessly unloveable