Why do people think they need to date/marry?

[wooden desk]

First of all I'm 24 and have dated around in the past and am not a virgin so I believe I know enough to make a judgement on this issue. It has of now been 4 years since I have been on a single date excluding the rare once night stand.

Now that that's clear let's move on. I'm in good shape, not bad looking, witty, have no debt, own my own vehicle, and am overall doing fairly decent and have had some girls interested in me but I tend to just ignore them because dating seems pointless to me and most girls want me to buy them a lot of stuff from my experience in the past. I have had a few girlfriends and none of them lasted over 2 months due to me just getting avoidant after they became a bit of a bother and wanted to talk all the time. I have not had sex in over 4 years as of now, I haven't even bothered to at all, I'm a moderate drinker and go to bars occasionally and it makes me more social but I'm just rarely if ever horny. I mean I would probably do it if a girl was pretty enough and it was no strings attached or she was rich but that hasn't happened and probably won't so whatever.

I just don't understand why people give everything they have to find a potential mate and spend every waking hour sharing their life with them when they could just keep it for themselves and not be constrained? My brother has spent the last 5-6 years in desperation to find the right girl for him and has had a lot of problems come upon him from doing so, I scan over his facebook page and it's just sad, the happy/sad ratio is just maddening and he clearly isn't mentally stable.

I have always enjoyed spending time in my lonesome reading or working out but when I was around the age of 18-20 I was in much worse shape and uneducated, I actually believed that I NEEDED a mate to be happy which as of now I find such to be false as I'm doing better than ever. I almost killed myself once over a girl I believed I was in love with due to her dumping me after 3 months when in fact all she did was make me waste a lot of time catering to her every whim.

If I feel like wasting my day off away taking a nap with a bottle of rum by my side whilst the birds sing overhead I can because I have no gods or masters over me, I'm the king of my own domain which was by and far not the case when I was younger.

I'm sure there are plenty of men/women that give their mate needed space but out of the 15 or so girls I have dated that was not the case whatsoever... obviously 0/15 are horrible odds and maybe my personality is just far too carefree which sways my judgement but I digress, I would love to hear conflicting viewpoints as getting all sides of an issue covered is key to learning more about the world; at least in my opinion.

[death]

ok

[Chacha]

A lot of people are scared of being left alone. They figure, if I don't find a partner and get married before I'm 30... 35.... 40.... I never will. And I'll die alone. People see their friends getting married, and feel pressured to do the same because they don't want to be left behind.

The only thing I don't understand is the source of that fear. When I see myself not getting married in the future... well I feel happy. I know that no matter what, I will have the freedom to do what I want with my life, whenever I want to.

On the other hand, I do believe some people choose to settle down because they actually want to, not out of fear. Like my grandparents.... they lived in the same town their entire life, they've been married for over 50 years, and they're happy together. They just don't expect much from life, and they're comfortable as-is. And that's good for them. But that definitely would never work for me.