Finding someone to whom you want to be attached romantically and spiritually is always a good thing. The concept of marriage, itself, is quite beautiful, and getting to a point where one wants to spend the rest of his/her life with someone is a goal of most carbon-based bipedal organisms on this planet (aka human beings). However, when we gain a partner, we may eventually feel like we lose someone else: ourselves.

Many people have been on their own so much, they've really learned to like themselves. As wonderful as it is to start a life as a spouse, it can feel like a devastating loss to lose your life as a single person, an autonomous individual, unfettered, to explore and live life freely.

There is a way to deal with this phenomenon, this death of one's bachelor or bachelorette life, and I have adapted the well known Kubler-Ross grief cycle as a map toward acceptance.

These five steps--Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance--may help us understand what it takes to make the transition.

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