How I Found Mr. Right (Excerpt)

Description: This is an excerpt of a fairly lengthy article I wrote with a young adult audience in mind.

 

Friends First

Dating around never worked for me. In fact, by the time I hit adolescence, I think I knew it wouldn’t work  for me, so I never wasted my time with it. Between the ages of fifteen and the day my last boyfriend became my fiancé, I was only ever involved in three relationships, all of whom were with guys who I developed a close friendship with first.

The facts:

The “friends first” approach works because putting aside the first-date façade means there’s little room for disappointment later when the man you thought was Prince Charming on day one becomes the Duke of Typical months down the line. Friendship is a much safer place where you’re less likely to put on a show for the sake of attracting a mate than  you are to be genuine on behalf of creating a deep and meaningful friendship. Furthermore, it’s a common truth that the foundation of any strong marriage is an even stronger friendship.

The temptation:

While it’s certainly fun to bait up, flirt, and go fishing for love, consider the end goal. Common, casual dating tends to only reveal the tip of our emotional and intellectual icebergs, and lots of hearts might be saved if we choose instead to forgo the face paint and avoid the devastating blow of learning that Mr. Right is actually not everything he’s cracked up to be.