Finding the Right Person

This week we talked a lot about dating and about characteristics that go into a relationship.  Dating is the time to find the person that will be our eternal companion.  When dating someone, we need to make sure that we do actually care about and love that person and are not making a "misattribution of love": thinking that we are in love with someone just because we have a hormonal rush, a stomach full of butterflies, or sweaty palms.  Dating is also an opportunity to find out what similarities the two of you share and, when you get serious enough about commitment, how the two of you feel about such things as: the division of household chores, punishment, time spent on callings, etc.  You also need to watch out for red flags when you are dating.  Some things may not be so obvious, but you need to pay attention.  You also need to make sure that you are not just tolerating certain characteristics of someone.  No, the other person will not be perfect, but you do actually have to like them.  Something that always helps me with this is a handout that I received in Young Women's.  It says: "Don't settle for the one you can live with; wait for the one you can't live without."  If I ever find myself thinking about the characteristics and habits of a guy and then thinking "Yeah, I could live with that," I know that that is something I need to be cautious about.