I’m not engaged or married right now, but many of my friends are getting engaged to the loves of their lives. Most of the time, when my friends get engaged, they post photos of their rings on social media, with captions like “I said yes!” and “I can’t wait to marry my best friend.” Then, everyone congratulates these women and tells them how beautiful their rings are.
But is focusing on the ring really such a good thing?
RELATED: 11 Signs He’ll Propose, But Has No Intention Of Marrying You One of my best friends proposed to his girlfriend last year and immediately messaged me on social media with a picture of the ring. Later on that night, we video-chatted, and towards the end of our conversation, I jokingly told my friend that he “did well with the ring.” His fiancé responded, “He sure did do a good job!” I completely understand why women admire their ring after their engagements. An engagement is a huge step in a relationship, so of course, excited women flaunt their rings. They want to show off their new relationship status and celebrate that they’re going to marry the person of their dreams. RELATED: The Surprising Reason We Don’t Always Wear Our Wedding Rings However, some women only care about the look or size of their ring. They may show off their rings just to make people jealous of their expensive jewelry and eventual wedding.
But these women are forgetting something important — the ring represents the love that you and your partner share.
They gave you that ring not so you could flaunt it, but so you can appreciate how deeply your partner loves you. Some women even constantly look at rings and drop hints that they want specific rings. It’s pretty common to look at rings before an engagement, but if you only focus on the ring, you’re missing out on enjoying the love in your relationship. After all, the most crucial part of your future engagement is the connection that you share and the ways that you both bring out the best in each other. RELATED: Do Not Marry Someone Until You Can Honestly Answer These 20 Qs The ring, no matter whether it’s your personal taste or how many carats it is, is just a temporary symbol that society has created to a permanent commitment.
In today’s society, engagement rings can easily become the main focus of a relationship, but they shouldn’t be.
If you’re waiting for your partner to propose, ask yourself if it would matter if your partner gave you an inexpensive ring or none at all. Would it change how you feel about the love of your life? Would you still have a strong bond? If you think that an engagement ring would affect your love for someone, then you need to examine your priorities in your relationship. That flashy piece of jewelry is always nice, but the love you and your partner have for each other matters much more. RELATED: The True Story Of The First Diamond Engagement Ring — Plus 4 More Weird And Notable Proposal Stories Larissa Martin is a writer whose work has been featured on MSN, Yahoo Lifestyle, Thrive Global, Unwritten, YourTango, and The Mighty. This article was originally published at Unwritten. Reprinted with permission from the author.
