Dating: Sections One and Two

I have wanted to write this note for a very long time and I believe now is the perfect time for me to do so. There are ten points I wish to make about dating. Tonight I will start with the first two and every night following I will address two more.

Dating is very difficult! If you think about it, you are in essence using dating as the very way of finding the man or women you will spend the rest of your life, and beyond, with. First let me give you an outline of what I am going to say, and then I will get into the ideas and explore.

I. What is dating?
II. Dating is a friendship first; a romance second.
III. Dating is a two sided relationship.
IV. Dating is not complicated.
V. Dating in college is NOT dating in high school.
VI. We are all scared about getting our hearts broken.
VII. “Opposites attract” and “similarities are important”: Which is it?
VIII. If you have to change yourself in order to date someone, someone isn’t right.
IX. Why am I still single?
X. A very short section on something I am still debating on if I should mention or not.

So here we go into my philosophies on dating:

First, what is dating? A date is a “social engagement” between a male and a female, or a group of individuals who each have a selected member of the opposing sex as their “date.” Dating is when a couple has decided that they are romantically exclusive. Now in my opinion a date should ALWAYS be between individuals who are interested in each other. If a guy or girl asks you on a date and you don’t find him or her attractive physically, emotionally or in any other “ly” word then SAY NO. I know that many of you will disagree with that last statement and I don’t really care, because as I said earlier dating is the method we use to find a spouse. Any other “social engagement” between two people of the opposite sex is simply two friends hanging out, and nothing more. I know this goes against everything some of you have been raised to believe. I hear all the time, “dates are just for fun.” That statement just blows my mind. You want to have fun; then grab a group of friends and go to a movie. I say this because chances are that in any given “date” one of the two parties wants more then a friendship.

Second, dating is a friendship first; a romance second. I think that statement explains itself, but I will expound anyway. Can you imagine living with a spouse that you didn’t consider your best friend? I assume most of you have had at one point in time a roommate that you didn’t get along with. Compare that to people you lived with who became your best friends. I don’t think this is a problem with most of the people I know, but it is still worth mentioning for those few who are dating someone because their boy or girlfriend is a good kisser or is just good looking.