Happily Ever After

Yesterday I did a couple of workshops at youth conference on “Celestial Dating.” Since I love this stuff I thought I would share the key points.
Begin with the end in mind. Who we date and how we date really matter. People don’t just “luck into” good marriages. Make wise choices even in early dating decisions. Make important decisions only once and stick to them.
Find the right one. I read a poster on a professor’s door years ago that listed 21 ways to have a happy life. The first one was “Choose wisely who you marry—it will account for 80% of your happiness or misery for the rest of your life.” We can’t change anyone but ourselves, so don’t go into a marriage thinking you will change something about someone and then they will be a good partner—or that a few little things don’t really matter. It is important to look for and pay attention to the little details that tell about a person—what they are really like inside, what they value, how they treat others, etc.
Be the right one. If we find a great person, will they see anything worthwhile in us? It is never too early (or too late) to work on becoming a Celestial partner. That really is our goal in life whether we are dating, married or single. We need to learn to be Celestial and to treat others as Celestial, whether they are acting that way or not.

There was information on how becoming physically intimate can cloud judgment. That is such an important part of marriage, it is sad to ruin it by starting too early. And of course, I gave everyone the RELATE website. Dating or married, it is a good way to find out what areas in a relationship need work. There is a link on my blog below on the left side.

"It is never too late to live happily ever after." That is a plaque I saw at Deseret Book one time and I truly believe it. However, our chance for success is greatly increased when we make wise choices all along the way.