38/Never Married

Most of us are aware of the benefits of living the GYOW lifestyle.I have tasted the upheavals and enjoyed the run of LTRs and dating women across a wide age spectrum.

I have seen many,if not all of my friends,suffer the consequences of indentured marital slavery.Most are aware of their plight,but fend off divorce due to the inevitable responsibilities that paralyze their rational thinking afer having kids and other stuff that comes with the territory.

Fortunately,I deduced from the early times of dating and LTRs,that marriage was probably the most high risk venture any straightforward, self-respecting man could embark upon.Notwithstanding the hocus fed to men about NAWALTs,many still continue to bite the bullet.

Now,about my current conundrum.

The Mom factor - My folks are still married.Its kinda remarkable,but not too unusual for their generation,compared to ours.The closest I came to succumbing to my mother's implicit pressure to get hitched,was when I got engaged few years ago.My fiancé (straight 7/10) moved in with me and the writing on the wall (atleast as far as I'm concerned) was obvious.Without delving into specifics,I can state with great pride that I honorably called it off,even in the face of initial drama and requests from her to reconsider.I was too enlightened to fall for the usual 'we will make it work' charade.

Sidenote - I ensured the exit process was founded on not blaming her or myself, just a clear perspective that it wasn't going to end well.

My mother almost never broaches the topic of any future possibility of me getting hitched,but she subtly does convey,that she would 'preferably' want me to have a family before her passing...and my folks would feel much better of giving away our family home (its paid off, has decent valuation).

I am not sure if that is being (unintentionally or otherwise) being dangled as a carrot to get hitched, or does it mean that getting entrenched in matrimonial enslavement (labelled 'responsibilities') is the only way I would be deserving of our family's inheritance.

I do live on my own and GYOW lifestyle has accorded maximum bang (in more ways than one) for my buck.But I cannot afford to overlook the long term windfall,if I do manage to fend off my mother's implicit pressure of getting hitched...AND inherit our our ancestral property.

I would appreciate any valuable insight into how to deal with the mom situation.

Best,