Marriage can be a wonderful institution for some but unthinkable for others.
Depending on your personality and wishes in life, you may prefer a bachelor life or a life with a person you love. However, one should not view the situation of dating and marriage as an either-or situation. Instead, each lifestyle has its positive and negative aspects. It all comes down to what you want out of life.
Social Life
A social life is a difficult variable to ascertain in the dating versus marriage debate. It really all depends on your will. A single person may be very lonely and have no friends, while a married person might go out all the time with friends. Arguably, however, in terms of commitments, a single person only looks at their own schedule to participate in social activities. A married person might have to communicate or compromise with a spouse over certain social activities.
Money
Money is another difficult variable to measure. On the one hand, marriage often leads to larger incomes, especially because of dual-incomes being pooled in. On the other hand, married couples do tend to lie in higher tax brackets. A news story by the US News & World Report detailed some of these issues and ruled that marriage, overall, yields higher cost savings than being single.
Personal Growth
As a general rule, one can argue that personal growth is attained in either dating or marriage. However, the growth is a bit different. The personal growth experienced by dating may come from meeting new people, experiencing new things and focusing entirely on your own self-interest. Personal growth through a marriage is fulfilling by having a partner for the rest of your life who can be there as your best friend and spiritual adviser.
Being Together
Like many of the pros or cons listed, the general positive aspect of a marriage is that you are with someone, especially someone who loves you. You can grow old with that person and create a family and network of friends. Dating may be personally fulfilling for a good aspect of your life, but to never have a consistent partner who you can share intimate moments with may be lonely at times.
