When Will He Propose?!

Nothing makes a man want to propose less than the constant niggling of a desperate girlfriend. Dropping hints and making unsubtle remarks about diamond rings is not going to help your cause. No man wants to feel forced into signing his life away to someone else. Perhaps he really does want to propose to you - only he's waiting for you to ease up on the pressure so he can feel like he's doing it on his own terms.

If you're pining away for a proposal, perhaps you should take a long hard look at your motivation. Why do you want to get engaged? Is it because you feel like your biological clock is ticking? Maybe all your friends are getting married and you're feeling left out? Worst of all, perhaps you feel like once you're in engaged, you know your man will never leave you? if this is your motivation, you need therapy, not a husband. You shouldn't need a ring on your finger to feel secure in your relationship - if you do, you shouldn't be getting married. Remember that people break engagements or get divorced every single day. A diamong ring is not going to keep your man from leaving. Learn to have faith in yourself - if your partner didn't love you, he wouldn't be with you.

The only valid reason for wanting to get engaged is that you love your partner unconditionally and can't imagine anything better than spending your whole life with them. And if that's your reason for wanting a proposal, then why not take matters into your own hands?

Ask yourself this: if I want to get married, why don't I propose to him? Yes my friend, this is the 21st Century, and it's perfectly acceptable for you to do the asking yourself. "But i don't want to!" you cry. Why on Earth not? Is it because you relish the fantasy of your man proposing in an over-the-top, obscenely romantic fashion? Here's a news flash: men like romance too! If you propose to him in an over-the-top obscenely romantic fashion, he'll be over the moon, and no doubt touched that you put in so much effort. He feels fantastic, you get your fairy tale romance AND a fiance; everybody wins!

Proposing yourself also avoids the awkward possibility that your beau will go out and buy you an engagement ring that you happen to think is hideous. Buying the ring together is a lot more fun anyway, because you both get to be involved in the process. Marriage is about sharing, remember? So share the engagement experience!

Another reason you might feel an aversion to proposing yourself is a lot more common, and by far more serious. You don't want to propose to your boyfriend because... well... you're not actually 100% certain that he'll say yes. Sure, you've dropped hints about marriage... really, REALLY big ones in fact, but the two have you have never really sat down and discussed it properly. In fact, he seems to shirk off the idea any time you bring it up. Actually, you're not really sure if he ever wants to get married.

If this is the case, then it's time you faced facts. YOU'RE NOT READY FOR MARRIAGE. Perhaps you will be, some day, but right now, heading down the aisle is about the worst thing you could do for your relationship. If the two of you can't even talk about living together in holy matrimony, how you do you think you're actually going to do it? Instead of wasting your time waiting on a proposal, focus on getting your relationship marriage-ready.

Celebrities who flit from one fiance to another have damaged our perception of what being engaged really is. It's not just a way of demonstrating to others that you're totally in love - it's a serious declaration of your intent to marry and spend your life with a person. And forever is a long time, so you shouldn't be entering into an engagement lightly.

Talk to your spouse about marriage. What are his feelings? Does he want to get married? If so, when? And more importantly, why? Some people see marriage as archaic and outdated. Some people feel strongly about being married before having children. The important thing is knowing how you and your partner both feel, and seeing if your views are compatible. Understanding each other's motivations and opinions of marriage will help prepare you for your actual married life together.Only then should you be thinking about getting engaged. And who knows, maybe he'll surprise you on Valentine's Day with an over-the-top, obscenely romantic proposal?