Playing for Keeps

There are three reasons why people try to set you up with other people:

Reason 1: "I live vicariously through other people and as such want to set you up with someone I know just for the sake of setting you up."

Reason 2: "I think you two are a really good match and would really hit it off!"

Reason 3: "Even though you haven't officially met, my friend has expressed interest in getting to know you."

I have always enjoyed the prospect of getting "set-up," so long as the motivation behind such has found its roots in either reason 2 or reason 3. If both of those reasons are the motivation, well then, that is pretty much just a really fortunate situation. Consequently, when I was approached by another girl in the ward and told that she wanted to set me up with her friend due to both reason 2 and reason 3, I was very excited.

I proceeded to make contact with this friend of hers: I called her, made it known that I would love to eat dinner with her one night, set up a time, etc. etc. And just like that, it was in my hands.

My approach to the evening was very appropriate: I had a good balance of excitement, realism, hope, and openness. And so the evening came and we ate dinner together. It was truly a great little "date" and we really did hit it off (or so I like to think). The conversation flowed freely from both ends, we found out that we shared a lot of common interests, and it just felt very comfortable and pleasing. I obviously wasn't making wedding plans in my mind--c'mon, what kind of an RM do you think I am--but I was thinking to myself that this was a great girl that was definitely worth pursuing. And then it happened.

Me: "Ya, I was really glad to see you come to my lesson on Sunday."

Her: "Well I thought I should probably start going to mission prep. In fact, as of last night, my papers are officially in! Isn't that so exciting?"

Exciting? EXCITING?! I don't know if that is the word I am looking for to describe how I feel. Thank you for setting me up and telling me I'd hit it off with, and be a good match for a girl that I will no longer be able to hug 3 months from now. Is that what we now define as a good match?

I guess maybe that is the difference between some sisters and brothers here at BYU. Some look at dating as only a way to get to know people, have fun, etc. A night out on the town, you might say. The rest of us? Well of course we want to get to know people and have fun. But in the end, it's all about the ring: you see my friends, I am not playing this game for the sake of playing. I am playing for keeps.