How To Deal With Pressure From Others About Relationship Decisions

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash.

Growing up, I’ve been asked by other adults that were not family members when I was having children and even suggested that I start a family soon. There was also a woman from a group that my parents belonged to that was trying to instill fear in me to get me to act and said, “You better find someone…”

I like receiving advice and help from others, but when that help and advice is rooted in fear or it doesn’t make sense, I will not follow it. I will follow what I feel is right even if it may appear different from the “norm.” I still struggle to accept that others may not understand the choices we’ve made and that we may not get the support that we need if those choices are different than what was originally expected.

Relationship decisions are very personal to us in relation to our personal circumstances and desires. When we have others trying to force their ideas onto us, we may not know what to do. Any help, advice or ideas about what to do and how to live may come from people that we respect or may come from absolute strangers. How do we show that we respect them, but also respect ourselves by creating our own path in the world?

Every individual was born with a different set of circumstances, which makes each of us unique. We each have our own personality, goals, desires and…