Of Relationships and Things

There are couplings within my family, Mom and Dad, Aunt and Uncle etc all of whom are happily married and have children.  Now apart from these couplings where the relationship evolved to marriage and then having children - I am yet to meet someone in a long-term relationship that has proved successful, fulfilling and above all else a happy union.

I'm beginning to question - if you don't intend on getting married to someone and having children with them, what's the point of being in a long term relationship - with anyone?

You can receive affection from your friends, you can even feel love for them too - so this desire to feel wanted and to mean something to someone can be fulfilled without a relationship.

You can have friends with benefits, and there are a fair few people out there who are more than happy to have casual sex, so the question of having this desire fulfilled again seems that it can be taken care of without being in a relationship.

Then there are downsides to relationships too - the complications, the issues of trust and faithfulness; if you don't have complete and explicit trust between the two of you, then you shouldn't really be together.  To me a serious relationship should be one where you are both committed and would never even dream of cheating on the other.  Unfortunately the number of people in this day and age that are capable of this level of faithfulness seems to be dwindling rapidly.  I'm not singling out any sexuality here, straight, gay, lesbian etc all sexualities share this pattern.

So if you can't find one of those rare gems, is it worth polishing a chunk of coal?  You can shine it, buff it paint it red and call it a Ruby all you want but you can never escape that beyond the surface it's still a lump of coal.

I know some would say maybe I am being too harsh but I can keep an open mind, I know that a serious relationship can bring together all of the above positives into one place but call me a cynic but how does that expression go - of eggs and baskets and things . . .