How long should a promise last?

The answer depends on who you ask. A woman may say forever and a man may not.

I asked a woman recently this question and she instantly replied “forever!”. I countered that I could promise to buy her drinks but not forever.
She conceded and said that the promise is for as long as we both agree.

Great, so if this is true that a promise is flexible and can start and end when we both agree then what is this forever thing.

What is forever and where did this come from? Well we all know it is this age old and tired statement from a bygone era when marriages were supposed to last forever. But now we all should know that the average length of a marriage is 8.7 years until separation and 12 before divorce.

So why not simply be more honest in our promises and say that we will try it out for 9 years and see how we go?

Or better still why not live each day as it comes and promise for now to keep working at it. A promise for now is better than a compromise forever, in my view.