There seems to be a pattern going on....

(Maybe all this thinking and thoughts on dating is in preparation for my future career in counseling or something, i guess we'll find out)

This thing is to kind of expand on a post i put up a couple of weeks ago which got some pretty dang good feedback.

So one Sunday during Ward Council, my bishop had brought up his concerns about the dating scene in our ward (or lack of a dating scene). Of course, my eyes started to slightly roll as i screamed in my head, "I'M TRYING DANG IT, OK???!!!" After it got started, an actually profound comment was said and i had a whole Gru from Despicable Me moment, "Liiiiiiiightbulb".

One of the Elders Quorum president's related a story about something the wife of his former Mission President said. He started by sharing that he had been engaged about a year ago. Being distraught about how it didn't work out, he called up the wife of his former Mission President for some good ol' council. She said, "Don't lower your standards, just your expectations...disappointment comes from high expectations." He was totally caught off-guard by what she said, but then thought on it and realized where she was going with it.

As i sat there trying not to fall asleep by being in another meeting and thinking on what he shared, i immediately went into "apply this to myself!" mode below...


I think about my standards and the standards i look for in a woman. These are some things that are inspired from advice my dad gave me back in 2007 when i asked what he was looking for when he found my mom. They are:
 -good personality that compliments mine. doesn't have to be the exact same or complete opposite, but she completes parts of me as i complete parts of her.
-strong testimony of the Gospel, not a "spiritual flake"
-loves to play or listen to music
-good family relations, not someone that hates their family
-annnnnnnd then, i gotta be spiritually and physically attracted to her. 


Sounds simple, right? Also, im not a fan at all of swearing from those i know. People should have a good enough vocabulary to not have to swear all the time or even some of the time. I've done pretty well to not swear. BUT...then again, thats just me. Those are just some of my standards. I don't want to change those. But then comes the expectations....i fear that they may too high sometimes, where it chases some away. I don't mean for it to, but it may accidentally come across that way. So im sorry, i don't mean to. I am human, afterall. But with expectations, they can change. If too high, we don't feel satisfied so we keep looking and keep looking and keep looking until...oh look, we're old and jaded now! yaaaaaay!   


...NO!


Just like the blessing of the Atonement offers us, we can change who we are for the better. If somebody has a weakness about them, they can overcome it. We all can change. I can change for the better. We grow and mature and then hopefully finally become the person we all wish to be. Expectations can and should change depending, but standards should remain strong.

Afterwards, i snapped out of my "apply to myself!" stupor, finished the meeting, then went home to have a nice blackberry and peanut butter sandwich.