RELATIONSHIPS:Love affairs: how old is too old? Tell

As love continuously colours our lives from generation to generation, there has been many myths and questions surrounding ‘how’ a person should date.

Friday, September 04, 2009

As love continuously colours our lives from generation to generation, there has been many myths and questions surrounding ‘how’ a person should date.

 The how question plainly refers to the age brackets where couples should be regarded compatible for each other. Age has for ages been a key determinant of love.

The three lettered word {age} has prevented many from living happy lives with their cherished partners.

Many love relationships have fallen apart just because of that age difference between the two love birds.

Whereas its abit normal for lovers to have an age gap, to the community it’s totally unacceptable!

Especially when a man dates a lady older than him, he will definitely be judged for that.

"Until I broke up with my fiancée, no one had ever approved of our love because she was three years older than me,” says Robert Sinayobye.

Though there are different things to focus on while falling in love and planning to spend eternity with someone, people tend to focus on age basically.But does age really matter in love? How old is too old in a relationship anyway?

Much as they seem simple and plain questions, they have affected many choices when it comes to love.

"He had all the qualities I needed in a man but he was 5 years older,” says Peace Ishimwe.

There are conflicting views about the age differences but focusing on this can make a relationship work regardless of the bridge between. "Age is just a number, the grade of maturity is what matters,” says Yusuf Mugisha.

There are many big babies out there, people who have the right age but can’t reason out very well. This is where maturity comes in.A person can be young in age but when they are mature in character and thinking.

This is why many end up attracted to young but intelligent people. In case a person is mature and they understand, age should really ruin it all.

When dating people of a different age, the number of years they are older or younger than you matters.

An age difference of 3-5 years is fine and it will never affect your relationship if you are truly in love. "My wife is 5 years older but we get along,” says Mark Gatete.

Much as age is considered a number, a very big difference will affect a relationship. For instance couples with a 10 year difference or more can’t get along for long.

This is mainly because their reasoning is completely different.
Not to mention is cross generation sex where extremely mature people go in for youths.

It’s basically for satisfying their sexual desires while for the youth it’s for financial stability. The cross generation relationships never last because they are not based on true love.

Any love focused on benefits is usually bound to fail.
A reasonable age limit isn’t a matter at all if a couple adores each other.

Infact many icons have dated people younger or older than them but they are happy.

The likes of Hollywood actress Camron Diaz with Singer Justine Timberlake who was almost 10 years younger while Rihana is 2 years older than Chris Brown.

To mention but a few.

All that matters is maturity, natural love and being happy with each other. Go for what you want in someone, not even age should stop you.

However be careful about a very big difference.

Ends