Not Being Married or Having Kids

No kids not married and 47. No desire for a relationship. Think of poor them. Disregard it. It a common phenomenon that a lot think in this way...but i am happy as i am.

Keep strong. I hear ya...
HT.

I get this a lot as well... even more so while being in a relationship. I tried marriage once, it wasn't for me. I always thought I would have kids by this point in my life but I don't and I'm learning to be okay with it. The world is made to believe that happiness equates to marriage and kids but that's just not true.

I like being alone as well. I'd much rather spend time with self than people who make me feel less than. I also just enjoy alone time and don't feel weird about it anymore like I once did.

If people are pitying you that's based off their beliefs and not your own. Just keep doing what brings you peace. That's what matters the most.

I would like to get married someday. But not anytime soon.

And I've never had the desire to have one or more kids.

Therefore, my parents will never have grandchildren and will never be grandparents, as my brother and his wife aren't having kids either.

I wonder how my parents feel about that. I don't know because I've never asked them, and they've never said.

I can relate. I've never wanted kids, and people always tell me things like "you'll change your mind." Well, I'm 35 and haven't changed my mind yet, so... Lol. I enjoy my own company (or being with my cat) more than being with people most of the time. I really enjoy being alone.

I think it is about feeling complete with yourself. And many people don't. So they don't understand it. Plus this is getting to be a terrible place to bring a child into the world. Just my opinion...

Hugs, Karen...

Same boat here -- very familiar to me. There seems to be a stigma associated with not being married or having kids, particularly when you get into middle age. By now, most of my peers have at least teenage or college-age kids, often bringing up their family lives in small talk. All those experiences are foreign to me, and all I can do is nod politely as they happily and proudly talk about their daughter's piano talent, son's vacation escapades, getting into some great college, etc.

There's definitely been pressure from family, even if not in so many words. They seem to have stopped asking about my relationships/wife only recently, perhaps realizing it likely won't happen. I have no siblings with children, and the family line will die off with me. This may be the biggest part of the pressure, which may have gotten to me -- i.e., I was made to feel as though I'm letting them down, and in the worst way possible.

Not really sure how to get past this -- some people emphasize how they couldn't imagine life without their SO, how their kids are their reason for living, etc. For those without, what else can substitute?

Not that I was ever against marriage, kids, and the "normal" or "expected" life, but I simply never found anyone, or maybe something about me always ruined things. Many years ago, I was even on an "incel" forum, long before incel became a four-letter word. I never found solutions, even if I found others in the same situation. That forum is long gone, thanks to the "new" breed of violent, cynical incels out there. There doesn't even seem to be a replacement term for the "old" ones.

Yes, no conforming!

Independence! May live with someone some day or not, [hee hee hee]. Will have one small dog, No, I will not push it in a stroller.

There are enough people in this world; When I go the Covenent House, see 100+ kids with no where else to go; I and validated that having is child is not everyones calling.

Fly Free as you can, don't let anyone cage you.
Peace
Trina