Being okay with dating someone because your family wants you to is a very slippery slope.
It is always best to be okay with dating that person because you are truly interested in them than in doing so simply because your family wants you to.
You are the one who will see them everyday.
You may believe it best to date them because you don’t want to hurt members of your family or go against what they espouse.
Perhaps you are fiercely loyal to your family.
You may also be so worried about being viewed as disloyal.
You may even be afraid that by defying your family by not dating this person, you will lose their support and love.
However, do understand that dating someone is not just about today.
It’s about tomorrow and the day after and so on.
You will be with this person for a while.
Can you live with that?
Can you live with being in a relationship with a person over a period of time in whom you have no true romantic feelings for?
It is so important to look down the road.
When you only think about what you can handle today and in the short term, it blinds you to the reality of the situation.
A relationship typically has a duration.
Some last longer than others but there is a duration.
You will have to be able to assess whether you can handle being with this person over a consistent and possibly long period of time.
You may feel like you can make your family happy today, but in the long run, who will end up being the most unhappy if you are in a relationship that you don’t truly want to be in?
It will be you.
When you have spent years being with this person that you never truly wanted to be with in the first place and a number of your family members have passed on, what will you have left?
They are no longer there to please but you are now facing years of having lived a lie.
That will leave you with a very empty feeling.
Unfortunately, by this stage you may feel trapped.
Since you have been in this unwanted relationship for this length of time and all this time has now passed, you may feel like you have wasted your best years and have no choice but to stay in the relationship anyway.
This is a very cruel predicament to be in and you don’t deserve this.
Really, no one does.
Hence, your task may not be trying to figure out how to be okay with dating someone because your family wants you to but more so how to be honest with yourself and not allow your family to pressure you into a relationship you don’t want to have.
Yes, I know that this requires courage and decisiveness.
However, this is your future that we are talking about.
If your family truly cares for you and loves you, they would want the best for you.
They would want you to be happy.
Don’t shy away from being honest with yourself and with them.
Avoid getting into a relationship simply because your family wants you to.