It's All About Pizza, Eggs, And Fishing.

This is the kind of blog post I try extra hard to never do. The kind that talks about serious things; the kind that spits out to the public (of like...4 people) what is rambling around aimlessly in my head. Although, once you live with me, you know I get into my contemplative mood and think about this stuff WAY too much. Jim, John, and I love to analyze it though. Makes for good sibling conversations--since we are all in the same boat. Haha, get the fishing connection already? But I'll make it quick. :)

It first started off with another friend's BYU analysis about dating. It's actually pretty good. Because I really like his version, I'll just copy and paste it from his blog and then add on my last epiphany:

"One of the most profound things I've heard in the last little while about dating and about love came from ELDER'S QUORUM. I know miracle right? Amongst the legions of 20-somethings flinging angry birds at walls and checking ESPN on their smart phones, my friend related dating to pizza, and it totally clicked for me. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I shouldn't be surprised. Not only do I love food but since I did live in Italy as missionary and all... Anyway I can't remember the context of the conversation, but he talked about how we are always too eager to make a relationship work every time there's a little spark. Every time we feel anything at all, we get all overly excited and impatient about this one, being THE one. The analogy was that we often try to pull the pizza out of the oven too early, before it's done. And it's so true. Be patient, let things run their proper course and the reward will be so great.

My second thought is something I'm sometimes guilty of, but I think a lot of us do it. The old saying is don't put all your eggs in one basket, but sometimes I think that's the worst thing you can do in dating and relationships. Sure it's important to date around, to have lots of friends of the opposite gender to get perspective, but if you like someone, and you think it's right, go all in. The worst thing you can do is to be enamored with someone one day, and then worry about getting hurt and hang out with 4 other people during the week just so that if the first option doesn't work, you can pretend it never mattered to you that much anyway. We all need ways to cope with rejection and frustrations, but be brave, have hope, and most of all, be honest with yourself and those around you."

Good stuff, huh?

Thankfully, I still have married friends that are bored and listen to my dating ups/downs. My married friend Baylee made the analogy that dating is like fishing. I mean we always are hearing about there being more fish in the sea when things don't work out with someone--so it makes sense that you could take the analogy farther. And as a side note, I hate when girls only blame guys for their dating problems and when guys say its all the girls fault. So go with me here and let's assume that girls are the fish and guys are the fisherman and both the fish and the fisherman have responsibilities.

First, I know WAY to many people who tell themselves that they have "personal walls" that keep them from throwing out a line or swimming around. This is dumb. Get over yourself if you ever want to progress towards exaltation (kinda huge).

A typical fisherman's job is to throw out the line, the fish need to nibble if they like the bait, and the fisherman then reels it in. Therefore, second, girls can never, ever pursue the guy. Always be the pursued and not the pursuer is a safe girl motto. As a girl, if you try and chase a guy, you take away his manhood! He needs to be the one to be the knight in shining armor and make most of the moves. If you don't let him be brave and courageous, then it almost always doesn't work out. How many times have we heard guys boast about how well they did when they had to fight for something. In sports? Fishing? Girls? It's all the same. Okay, for you fishy, you have to first nibble on the bait, don't just sit there right in front of the bait waiting and waiting. Taking the bait means to be encouraging, flirtatious, and consistent (don't see how much bait you can eat before being reeled in or try pulling the fisherman into the water to close the distance). Have some patience. Sure, give some resistance if you want, but still keep the bait. As a fishy or the fisherman, you have the right to decide at anytime, that the fish (or bait) is not for you or is for you. And when you do make a decision, be courteous and do your job. You see, it's just as simple as fishing!