A reflection on how people in their 60s can rethink relationships, moving beyond the pressure to find a soulmate. The speaker cites a New York Times article and argues older adults can be happily single, maintain friends-with-benefits arrangements, or enjoy intimate connections without lifelong commitment expectations.
Chapters
Love of your life or friends with benefits? And do we have to choose between them? There was a really interesting article in the New York Times this week about the fact that more and more people are happily single or are in relationships with people who are simply friends with benefits and not the love of their life. And I think as we age, we should be considering how our relationships can look different. I no longer expect to meet that soulmate, love of my life. And there was a discussion in my Facebook group about whether or not that was something that was on my radar. And I say, never say never, but also don't plan on your entire life being about going out to find this person. Live life while you can in the moment. Enjoy the people that you're with, whether you're intimate with them or whether you're not. I think that We can define as we get older what our relationships look like. And friends with benefits doesn't necessarily mean there's no emotion involved. It means exactly what it says, that you— they're a friend, they're a person that you like and you can be intimate with without having the expectation that they are your soulmate, they're going to be your soulmate, and they're going to be your forever person. And yeah, that's all I have to say about that. What do you think? I'd love to hear your opinion. Do you have a friend with benefits? Do you have somebody that perhaps you've been intimate with for years, but it's not the love of your life? Or do you believe that it's simply a soulmate or nothing?
