Dating for Marriage

 Today I wanted to talk about a subject that I have been thinking a lot about lately. I want to talk about dating for marriage. This is something that I think many people are confused about these days. Honestly, can you blame them? 
I often think about how much dating has changed since our parent's time, or our grandparent's time, or our great-grandparent's time. It has changed so much! The whole dynamic is completely opposite! Why is that? Is it working for us? 

I like to ponder this because when I think about marriages these days, I notice that many of them aren't lasting. This fact is sad but true. We have to open our eyes and realize that something is probably wrong with the way that we view relationships these days. 

I want to share some of my experiences while dating. Most of the time my thoughts were: "I will go out with them and most likely never see them again." Am I alone on this? This might just be the thoughts of a girl, however, I don't think many guys take dating seriously anymore. Most of the time, it ends up being one is more interested than the other. One may be more invested in getting into a relationship than the other. Then why are you dating? 

My opinion has always been that you date because you want to get married. Is there something wrong with that? 

I believe that you should date a variety of people until you find that special someone who crosses off all your checkboxes. You date lots of people, that way you know what your checkboxes are, you can know exactly what you want. 

It can be very challenging these days to find someone who is equally committed to you and someone who is willing to work all the challenges of dating out with you. 

I think about the stories that my parents and grandparents tell about how they met their significant other. Most of them claim that it was love at first sight. They knew instantly that they were going to marry that person someday. Personally, I don't believe that. I don't think you should say that about someone unless you truly know them. I think you should know their personality and get to know them in all situations before deciding if you want to spend the rest of your life with them. 

I have been heavily considering what it is that makes a marriage last. The majority of people fall in love and decide to get married, but later down the road they decide to end the relationship and get a divorce. 

I have thought to myself that it may be a generational thing. Our generation is known to be lazy and give up on things before truly giving them a chance. This may be a large reason why there are more divorces now than ever before. Maybe we don't realize that marriage isn't always sunshine and rainbows and it actually takes a lot of work. When struggles come up in the marriage, they decide to give up and not work together. Of course, there are many other reasons why someone may want a divorce, but these are my thoughts and opinions.