Dating. Sometimes dating can be a scary word or experience, especially if you haven't had positive outcomes with them. This week we spent the time talking about the purpose of dating, and "How do you know if I'm on a date or not," questions. One thing that caught my interest is a theory we will call the Cinderella Syndrome.
This is the thought that a man is walking lonely in a park, and all way from the other side of the fountain and makes eye contact with a woman, (cue the love music) they fall in love, and they live happily ever after. Awkward. Relationships don't just happen. You can't pray for Heavenly Father to bring you the love of your life while you sit and play video games all day. It takes work. Even hard work sometimes. Well what if you do try, and you date, and you date, but the results are not promising? There was a story told of a young man who did just this, and was getting discouraged that he was doing something wrong. Well in a capstone class, he brought up his concern to a teacher. The teacher thought about his situation, and asked him about his mission. "What did you do when you struggled with finding investigators on your mission?" He replied, "We just kept trying." The teacher then told the young man to just keep trying.
When we date, it doesn't necessarily mean that we are looking for that eternal spouse that we want to spend the rest of our lives with. When I dated at 16, that sure wasn't on my mind. So it all starts with communication. Dating gives us a means of communicating with the opposite sex, and gives us an idea of who we like and who we don't like. Eventually, we will start to date a person seriously, but a question to think about is "How do I know I'm dating."
I would like to give you the three P's of dating:
1- Paired Off
2- Planned
3- Paid For
These three things are good guidelines to knowing you have been on a date. Hanging out just isn't as good aye? Eventually when you meet this awesome spouse of yours, (cause trust me you will) and you will then take on three other P's which are:
1- Preside
2- Provide
3- Protect
I realize that these are all attributes of men, but men you kinda have the responsibility for asking. Girls have the responsibility for accepting, (most of the time anyways :) Sometimes a family may decide to do things differently and that is alright, as long as you are happy and the needs of your family are being met.
I know that dating is awkward, and even really awkward sometimes, but in the end you will grow from those experiences and find a person that doesn't make you feel odd. I would like to end with the quote, "We find A right person, not THE right person." There are many guys and gals that are fit to be married it is just finding the one that is compatible with you. I do believe that there are many people that one could have a happy life with, it is just getting approval from Heavenly Father that that is the right choice. If one doesn't work out, there are plenty of other fish in the sea so don't sweat, just keep trying!
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