AntiCulture said:
Okay, I've gotten a lot of feedback on this one, which is really cool of all of you. But here is one of the things that's been floating around in my brain. Now, I gotta lotta friends who are single mothers, but they know me, so it's biast. So I'm gonna pitch this one towards the ladies. Imagine you feel like you have this little hole in you. You've had it for a long time now. Imagine that as time goes on, that hole gets rougher, more jagged. Harder to find a piece that fits in it. Imagine that you find someone that clicks with you in all kinds of ways. Someone that seems to think the same twisted shit as you, which maybe isn't something you run into every day. They're crazy about your kid, and they're crazy about you. Now imagine that you're me. Imagine that you meet a chick that has all the qualities you've been looking for. She's chill, laid-back, but still got that fire in her when she gets going. You dig her alot. You dig her kid too, alot. Someone that thinks the same shit you normally don't say out loud in front of other people, ya know? But you got this weird "passing-the-gene" shit, this complete aversion to raising another man's child. You know you'd love the kid, but something's just always gonna be missing there. Like if you two had another kid, you'd love the other one a little more bezuase it's yours. And that feeling just doesn't go away. Probably won't ever, whether you like it or not. It's just there. You just know it ain't gonna pan out in the long run. If you were that girl, would you not feel like I cared more about my lifestyle than you?
I'd say you were entirely normal.
What's makes more sense? Wanting to have your own child, or getting excited because someone yammers about the same stuff as you from time to time? Fact is, romantic love comes & goes, but your children are always yours. If you break up with this woman now, you won't think about it 10 years afterwards. But if instead you were to forgo having your own children during your lifetime, you probably will think about it until the day you die. So it's best to put the horse before the cart. Don't let your romantic inclinations (or your penis) lead you into an uncomfortable parenting situation.
Follow the links:
Limbic system -> Emotions -> Love
Cerebral cortex -> Reasoning -> Logic
As you go through life, some people will encourage you to subvert reason to follow your emotions. In such cases, their conscious intentions may be benign, but always see on which side their bread is buttered, because that is where their unconscious prejudices are formed.
Plan for the long term, not the intermediate term. At least, that's the way I look at it.
Another way to look at it: there are always other fish in the sea, but only a few children in the world will ever be related to you.
Yet another way to look at it: though not precisely in the same fashion, haven't you felt great about *another* woman before? Where is she now?
Yet a third way to look at it: ever have a really hard time getting out of bed, because it was *soo* comfortable, even if you knew it was something that you needed to do to fulfill your long-term objectives?
Women get tired of waiting and break up with men because of their *failure to commit* or because the guy does not wish to have children. Why feel guilty? It's entirely normal.
[Edited on Jan 21, 2005 10:26PM]