Why Marriages Should be Leases

Forever is Perhaps a Bit Ambitious

Aman
5 min readJul 29, 2022

My mom once said one of the most profound things I have ever heard about relationships:

“Marriages should be leases, and after ten years, you should get to choose if you would like to renew the lease or trade your partner in for a new or different model or simply choose to continue without a partner entirely.”

When she said this, I was married and laughed it off.

I thought it was the speech of a jaded older woman who truly did not understand the value of a partnership.

Though I am no longer in the relationship I was in when she made that statement, I am in a long-term, committed relationship, but I am older now, and her words do not ring as comedic and light as they had back when I originally heard them.

Marriage is hard.

Marriage is complicated.

Marriage is a lot of strife and sacrifice.

Marriage can be lonely.

Why?

(Some) People change.

Some people change a lot over the course of their life. They change their values, ideals, and priorities. They change their hair, diet, exercise routine and lifestyle overall. These changes can fundamentally…

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Aman

I write about issues that are near and dear to my heart, with the hope that my stories, experiences, and struggles may empower others.