Agree

by Sharilee Swaity

Created on: September 29, 2011

Age matters when it comes to relationships. It's a nice idea to think that anyone can marry anyone but two partners need to have a certain degree of commonality to make it work. If two people are extremely different in age, there is a built-in difference that is almost impossible to overcome.

The year that we were born determines so much about who we are and how we see the world. It affects the world events that we remember, the music we heard on the radio and style of clothing that we wore growing up. People from one generation can only relate so much to those of another and that is what we call a “generation gap.” Kids love their parents but their parents can never completely understand them. And those same kids can never really understand the ones that gave them life.

It is for this reason that age matters when it comes to relationships. What generation a persson is from determines so much about them. If a man marries a woman 20 years older than him, they can never catch up encough to have anything in common. Marrying someone that is more a decade or so older is like marrying your mother or father! Two people from two generations can love one another but they cannot be partners. They will always see things differently. Very differently.

Another reason that age differences are a potential problem in relationships is that age determines the life stage a person is currently at and what they expect out of life. Life has its stages. Of course, we don't all fit in them to an exact degree but the general idea still applies to most of us.

In our twenties, we pursue our schooling and get started in a career or even start a family. In our thirties, we are getting more established in what we are doing. By our forties we are usually going strong in our chosen profession or family situation. And in our fifties, we are in a mature position and usually more secure in life. And from the sixties on, we are looking towards retirement and even estate planning.

What happens when you marry someone that is at a different life stage? How do you live your life when one partner is secure and the other is just getting started in getting to know themselves? What happens when one of you is wanting to retire and travel while the other person is just getting going in their career? How do you deal with these very fundamental questions within the relationship? It's fine to say, “it will all work out,” but these are very practical questions that must be answered. At times a marriage done in haste may be regretted when the full implications of this decision are realized.

No, age does matter when it comes to relationships. Of course it does.

Someone with a different point-of-view might argue that some people do make it work, pointing to this or that example from the media or their own personal lives. We can always find someone to support our argument if we try. And without a doubt, there are a few that will make it work in spite of all the obstacles. That said, however,they still have work hard to overcome the inherent problems found in May-September romance. Because, ultimately, age does matter.

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