Hanging Out vs. Dating

In the world of an LDS young adult life can be kind of confusing. We are told to not date till we are sixteen and then we should only date in groups. When we finally reach the age where we should be dating exclusively we have a hard time adjusting. We are caught in the mentality that we should "hangout" and that we really do not know how to date. Don't get me wrong, I am not against hanging out, but I do think that there is a certain extent where hanging out is not what should be going on. There needs to be a time where, and yes I am old fashioned, a guy should ask the girl out. I believe that it is ok to meet in a more hang out situation, but then they need to move on and get up the guts to ask a girl out. The point of dating is to figure out if they could potentially be someone that you would be willing to be with. You are not able to get to know someone that close in such a big situation. In order to see what a person is really like one needs to spend time with them.

I was talking to my mom a couple weeks ago about the students here at BYU and the different social life that goes on. It is hard here, because there are so many different people that are amazing and could be really fun to date, but that most of the time the students are to scared to take a risk. Also so many, including myself, have thought that if they date someone, they will end up marrying them, and that is a little bit of a scary thing to think about. Another thing is that there is no line, when is it time to cut off the relationship if you do not think that you want to be with that person anymore? Is it after one two, or three dates you do not want to lead someone on if you do not really like them. But yet at the same time, how well do you know a person if you have only been out with them on a couple dates. Is it too soon to say that you want to date other people? Who really knows the answers to these questions, they are the ones that everyone is wondering. If anyone has the answers to these questions, they should let the rest of us know.

So which is better? I believe that hanging out is a great way to first meet someone and keep it less awkward, but then if there is someone that you are interested in, then you should take it to the next step. This is where dating comes into play, now this does not mean that you have to take a girl out to dinner or something really expensive be creative. Go for a walk, a picnic, or go to a park and swing. You do not really have to take the girl somewhere to dinner. I think it makes me like a guy so much more when he has something fun planned then just going out to dinner. Also these dates make it so that you can get to know the person that you are going out with. This way you can know what they like to do and what a possible second date could be. Also dinner does not have to be something that you have to do, and if you do, you do no have to make it a super expensive place. Just make it fun, and be yourself!!!