Dating: Introduction

Dating, you should have an idea about what it is. Or so we think. Take a moment and define it in your mind…………….Done already? So that’s it then. This is going to be fun learning about.

To begin with, dating isn’t what most of us imagine it to be. Some of what we take it to be are far much further from the true meaning of dating. But there is no need to sweat it. We shall realise what it is together and then you can choose to disagree with me if you want to. Not that it will matter much because I know that I am going against the grain of mutually acknowledged illusions about dating. My goal is to dispel the ridiculous meanings that have – for a while – been attached to it. Including your own. Tarry with me a bit longer. One more thing, this is a short article, so don’t start gasping for air. See the next piece.

Dating is fun or at least it should be. It is getting together and learning to grow. Learning responsibilities and finding out that the whole world doesn’t revolve around you. Dating is discovering boundaries: realising who you are and what you like – and dislike. Dating is a relationship that is pegged on friendship and exploration of two or so worlds. It opens you up to other possibilities other than the ones you have been nurtured to embrace. It is a mine of knowledge, understanding and experience. Nonetheless, it is an involvement that is squarely within the limits of the two explorers – that’s you and her (or him).

What a long definition, right? This was not expected, I know. You probably expected a single sentence that’ll sum up what it is in a short prequel. Sorry about that! A downside to a single-sentenced answer is that it tends to leave out so great an expansion of what dating really is. But hey, don’t keep loitering around such a disappointment. Now that you know what dating is. Let’s find out more about some hardcore issues. We need to grasp some solid truths about dating. Here we go;

• TRUTH 1: Just because you date someone doesn’t mean you will marry them. Let that sink in ‘vizuri’ (Swahili for ‘well’).

• TRUTH 2: Your dating experience will help shape your married life. Just like 1+1 = 2. No tricks!

• TRUTH 3: You will date several people before you get married. Did you think you were going to get right on with the ‘one’? Few do! You are most likely among the many.

• TRUTH 4: Your spiritual beliefs have an impact on your dating life. Seems subtle but as long as they affect your beliefs, you cannot keep them from influencing your dating life.

We can all agree on these wonderful truths. Make them our baseline. Because either way, they will still show up. Discrediting them as the infallible truths that they are won’t make them cease to exist. You’re stuck with them. This is a character that all truths in whatever subject exhibit.

Since we have appreciated what dating is, let us get to the next important step of understanding – accepting that it may never last.

Just like I promised you, this article has come to an end. Short as it is, it is an introduction to a Dating Series which you will continue receiving. See you on the next one.

Recommended reading: Dateable: are you? are they? by Justin Lookadoo & Hayley DiMarco

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