For the ladies.. "Why aren't you married?"

[DSTCHAOS]

I am surrounded by successful marriages, as well as marriages that lasted decades and ended in divorce.

Learn from these but do not allow what you learn to provide a self-fulfilling prophecy. The men and women in these situations are not you and the man you will be with. Take the general lessons but do not try to apply them too much to your life because they won't always apply.

Being cynical is okay if it keeps you realistic and conscious. Not if it scares potentials aways and gives you a huge chip on the shoulder that prevents you from having a successful marriage.