Marriage is strung along when there is ultimately no intention.

I've read stories like that's lot on Reddit too, although oddly, I don't know anyone to whom it happened IRL. What a hurtful thing to do to a person.

For me, the answer is simple: neither of us is the type to string someone along with lies and excuses. We both have too much personal integrity for that. We told each other we intended to spend the rest of our lives together and our word is our bond. Our word is just as good as our signature on a wedding license. Our relationship is built in trust and honesty. I could get the truth about whether I was wasting my time by just asking.

The other side to that is that our actions matched our words and showed our commitment day after day, in big and small ways. I think discrepancies tend to show up when a person isn't as invested as they pretend, which is a very painful situation for the other person.