An interesting discussion took place in my fitness class today. We're a small group (due to Covid and social distancing) of regulars and the talk turned to how long the married women in the group had to wait until their partners proposed. What truly shocked me was that most of them were waiting around a DECADE for a ring. Or, as one woman shared "9 years and then I spent two years bullying him to propose."

What was particularly of interest were the justifications (read: excuses) that these women were coming up with for their partners: "Oh, he takes ages to make any decision", "He said it wasn't something we should rush into."

This. Is. Bullshit.

It does not take a man a third of his life to figure out if the woman he's dating is someone he wants to marry. Men are literally hardwired to be competitive and go after what they want. If he's dragging his heels, he's not being 'cautious', he's keeping his options open. There is a world of difference between a man who is excited and eager to marry you and a man who shrugs and thinks "well... nothing better's come along, so I guess."

There was one exception. One of the women in the group, not as attractive or outgoing as the others, had been listening politely, then said quietly: "My husband told me he wanted to marry me at four months. We're still happily married six years later, so I guess he just knew."

Do not entertain indecisive men.