This is my first year of 17 seasons to watch "The Bachelor." Since I'm a romance author, many people thought I'd be drawn to the show long before now. Oddly enough, I've always thought it sounded like a hokey idea – falling in love in 6 weeks. Granted, I have written several such books, where the hero and heroine meet and fall madly in love in a matter of weeks.
I know a lot of people who have met and married their spouse in a matter of weeks, and have been happily married for years. Don't get me wrong, I believe very much that God can bring two people together with such assurance of happily ever after.
This is television, I keep reminding myself. Still, I have a very difficult time watching the bachelor making out with one bachelorette after another, and trying to equate this with finding true love. This last week he sent the next hopeful woman away when the bachelorette said she wanted to marry her best friend. His reason was he wanted to be more than best friends, which got me thinking – a very dangerous situation!
Do you marry your best friend? Or do you fall in love first and THEN become best friends? Initially, I agreed with Jillian (the last bachelorette to be turned away) when she said that when they're 90, she'll want to be with her best friend. I'll admit, after nearly thirty-one years of marriage, it seems like my honey and I have been best friends forever. And that is just the way I want it. But was it friendship that brought us together, or "more"? And what exactly is "more" than best friends?
And who better to ask than my best friend, my husband. We're watching the show together, so he knew, even predicted who the bachelor would send packing. And he even agrees with Jason, the bachelor, on wanting "more" than being best friends for a happy marriage. His definition of "more" is the spark that will send one into a burning building to save the other. That warm feeling when your love walks into the room and smiles at you – even after thirty years of marriage.
So after a long discussion, I agree that yes, there was a lot more of "more" than best friends in my husband's and my courting days. And I will change my opinion to include both "best friends" and "more than best friends" when looking for one's perfect mate. I hope that he and his bachelorette will remember to keep each other as best friends as well, because they'll need a lot more than a spark to keep that love alive and growing through the good times and bad. And so far, on "reality T.V.", there hasn't been much focus on becoming "best friends." But whether a couple meets online, on a reality show, or in their daily walk of life, I think the most important thing is to remember to keep the love growing, through all types of love.
All-in-all, it's entertainment. I think the statistics of the show say it all, only 1 couple out of 17 seasons has found what it takes to turn reality T.V. into real love. I am a true fan of love and romance and lasting marriages, in romance novels, in television, and most of all, in real life.
God Bless,
Carol
I know a lot of people who have met and married their spouse in a matter of weeks, and have been happily married for years. Don't get me wrong, I believe very much that God can bring two people together with such assurance of happily ever after.
This is television, I keep reminding myself. Still, I have a very difficult time watching the bachelor making out with one bachelorette after another, and trying to equate this with finding true love. This last week he sent the next hopeful woman away when the bachelorette said she wanted to marry her best friend. His reason was he wanted to be more than best friends, which got me thinking – a very dangerous situation!
Do you marry your best friend? Or do you fall in love first and THEN become best friends? Initially, I agreed with Jillian (the last bachelorette to be turned away) when she said that when they're 90, she'll want to be with her best friend. I'll admit, after nearly thirty-one years of marriage, it seems like my honey and I have been best friends forever. And that is just the way I want it. But was it friendship that brought us together, or "more"? And what exactly is "more" than best friends?
And who better to ask than my best friend, my husband. We're watching the show together, so he knew, even predicted who the bachelor would send packing. And he even agrees with Jason, the bachelor, on wanting "more" than being best friends for a happy marriage. His definition of "more" is the spark that will send one into a burning building to save the other. That warm feeling when your love walks into the room and smiles at you – even after thirty years of marriage.
So after a long discussion, I agree that yes, there was a lot more of "more" than best friends in my husband's and my courting days. And I will change my opinion to include both "best friends" and "more than best friends" when looking for one's perfect mate. I hope that he and his bachelorette will remember to keep each other as best friends as well, because they'll need a lot more than a spark to keep that love alive and growing through the good times and bad. And so far, on "reality T.V.", there hasn't been much focus on becoming "best friends." But whether a couple meets online, on a reality show, or in their daily walk of life, I think the most important thing is to remember to keep the love growing, through all types of love.
All-in-all, it's entertainment. I think the statistics of the show say it all, only 1 couple out of 17 seasons has found what it takes to turn reality T.V. into real love. I am a true fan of love and romance and lasting marriages, in romance novels, in television, and most of all, in real life.
God Bless,
Carol
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