Dear Peace,

After reading your post, it seems a lot of your worries and fears stem from this “what if” factor.

Your relationship of two months sounds like it has no other major issues, although you did type that you feel he listens but does not understand you…could you please expand on that? The main issue right now is that your boyfriend not willing to commit to marriage because for him it is too soon, is that correct? From his perspective, it seems he is still trying to solve things related to his ex and his kid and he is clearly communicating with you that he will not be ready to commit to marriage until at least 1 to 2 years. He is thinking about what he wants as he should because he has every right to do so and so far it seems he is being honest with you from the very start (although I do not know enough about him to make a concrete conclusion about if he is an honest or dishonest person). I can understand that you are hurt because he is not making the commitment of marriage to you but from his viewpoint, two months is very fast to commit to a lifetime. Regardless of how great the time you are both spending right now is or how often it could simply be the honeymoon phase and it would be wise for the relationship to progress more before making such a commitment.

“Even with my visa i can sponsor him as he doesnt have proper visa.he works full time and his 80 % salary goes for installment of the house which he is buying… I m willing to help him in every way whenever he needs me…”  I actually feel it is good that he is not marrying you for such purposes, because otherwise, you will never know if he is marrying you because he truly loves you or because of visa or since you can help him with house installments.

Now, the other guy is the one your family feels you should marry. He is a family friend, also the brother of your sister’s husband and it seems you also know him fairly well as you wrote he is one of your good friends. This family friend is ready to marry you but that could also be because he too is feeling pressure from his family ( I am not 100% and you can write more details if you wish). You could marry this person immediately but you will also never know how long or how good that marriage will be because that is also a “what if” since although he is your good friend, you do not know him from a romantic/intimate aspect. People can treat and react very differently when they are with their girlfriend/boyfriend compared to when they are just with a friend.

In both scenarios, it seems you will be taking a risk. On the one hand, you have a current relationship which is currently facing a lot of problems because you are both not on the same page, on the other hand, there is this family friend who you can marry right away. The choice is really up to you.

You could continue dating your current boyfriend for a few months and see how it goes, I know you don’t want to wait a year but if the relationship cannot even survive one year then marriage is really out of the equation. Or you can simply marry your family friend and hope that relationship is strong enough to survive the lifetime commitment of marriage.

At this moment Peace, what is it that you feel the most comfortable doing? Do not think of this situation from your boyfriend, or your family friend, or your family, or your best friend’s perspective but simply yours. At the end of the day, it will be you that has to live your life and you need to be at peace with your decision. Unfortunately, there is no way as of right now for me to really tell you what the right decision is because the “what ifs” are never going to end. Sometimes in life, we learn from experience, some good and some unfortunately bad, but what matters is going with your gut feeling. Family pressure can be a lot of stress on your mental health but I highly encourage you to not make a decision simply because of your family, family is indeed very important but again, at the end of the day, it is you that will be living with the decision you make.

Warm wishes,

Noor