Well, a lot actually. Physical, emotional resources, money, time, self-discipline, will power, research, love (duh)....etc. It's mostly giving and giving and giving, and sometimes getting intangible rewards in return (which is very rewarding, if one isn't too materialistic).
It's my opinion that people who enter marriages or have kids thinking others will fulfill them or they will find happiness in life that way would be dissappointed at some point. It could be that one day, your spouse may walk out on you, or your kids may rebel and run away, or become ungrateful when you're old and useless. Or maybe you're just not satisfied anyway because the marriage has lost it's romance, or the spouse isn't what you thought he or she would be. Of course, people could marry a rich fella purely for the 'tai tai' lifestyle and get the money, but that's different altogether.
So. My colleagues have been asking me, "Sarah, it's great that you're engaged. But do you REALLY want to get married?" Some just stop there, while others add a reason of "but you're so young!" I'll be 25 next year when I marry, I don't think I'm a kid. You might be interested to know that half my office floor are singles...and they're not young, but they're seemingly happy that way. But I see where they're coming from.
They must be thinking, 'does this poor girl know what she is getting herself into? What about career advancement, traveling and seeing the world, having a few more flings in the dating scene? How about pursuing further studies, going wherever you want with no strings attached, no kids running around? What if the spouse turns out below par?'
Honestly, I've thought about all that. A few times too. When I marry, I give up a few of my dreams- dreams of furthering my studies, or achieving certain things in my career, of seeing the world. My fiance already irritates me on a variety of significant and insignificant issues. When I have kids, I know I'd have to sacrifice even more. But you know what? That's what love is about, which differentiates it from lust. There's a saying; it's possible to give without loving but it's impossible to love without giving.
I think we would never know what true love is if we could never be selfless.
