Marriage in my context

For the past few weeks I've been attending numerous number of wedding. From cousins, to friends to colleague. I have been thinking about this thing what we call 'marriage'. Here is marriage in my context.

Wikipedia defines marriage as Marriage is a social, religious, spiritual, or legal union of individuals. This union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding and the married status created is sometimes called wedlock.. (Wikipedia, 2009)

My ideology of marriage is more to responsibility towards the other side. Some people always ask 'when' are you getting married. Yes we do get answers of vague numbers and answers such as "earliest 28", "when i get my degrees/get rich", and so on. The question that we should really ask is whether the person is ready for marriage. Ready to bare all the responsibilities that comes with it? Ready to be a good husband/wife? Be a good father/mother? Be a good grandfather/mother? If the answer is YES for most of the question, think again..
What defines a good husband/wife? being able care for the other half, being able to provide when the time comes, being for them whether in good times or in bad times. What defines a good father/mother then? Capable of nurturing the young mind so that he/she will be a good person i future. being able to be responsible for all the kids actions and the list goes on and on.

For me, getting marriage could prove quite simple. But preserving the marriage seems otherwise. Everyone can get married it seems. You dont need lots of money to get married. Just have a small reception will not cost much. All you need to get marriage is the vows and its already considered 'sah'. How bout preserving them? Do we need to find vows to preserve the marriage? How do people can be able to tolerate or withstand each other for such a long time? There bound to be limitation for everyone. At a certain point, the glass will break.

However, being an optimistic person, I always try to look on the brightside. Yes, marriage will make most thing 'halal'. Marriage will continue your generation or 'zuriat'. Marriage will also means having a partner by your side, to carry any burden with you, in sickness and in health.

Hopefully everything will turn out fine with the cousins, colleagues, and friends that their wedding i attended to.

Selamat pengantin baru.