If you've had that discussion with your boyfriend and you've been holding out hope for far too long, you need to start seeing the truth in his statements.

Think about every excuse he's made:

  • I'm not ready
  • I don't have the money
  • I don't know
  • I think we should get a house first
  • I think I wan't to get married someday but I'm not sure
  • I've got too much in my life going on

And start applying what he actually means to them:

  • I'm not ready, but I will be when I meet "the one."
  • I don't have the money, because I'm not willing to invest in you.
  • I don't know, but I will know once I meet her.
  • I think we should get a house first, because other investments are more important to me than our future.
  • I think I want to get married someday, to someone who isn't you.
  • I've got too much in my life going on, and you aren't enough of a priority for me to commit.

Stop lying to yourselves. Do you really want to be married to a man who didn't think of you as his first choice as a wife? He's holding out for better option. Here's a hint: you aren't his better option. Sure, if you degrade yourself enough and stick around long enough and his better option doesn't come along, he'll propose to you when you're the only option left. But do you really want to be picked last for dodgeball?

Stop taking care of him. Stop nurturing him and comforting him. Stop appreciating him. Gain financial independence if you don't already have it, dump him, and keep his do-nothing ass in your rear view mirror.

You deserve a man who loves you and wants you as his wife, and no one else. Hope is not a strategy: action is what will get you a ring. Dump him, sis.