"Going Out"

     Recently I had a talk with a close friend, about a rather peculiar topic for me to discuss. I haven't had any experience in this subject myself yet, but somehow I was able to come up with good advice, from advice that I had been given years before.

     The advice I gave was from a lesson that I was given when I was twelve. Even though I'm sixteen now, I haven't forgotten the valuable, impacting lesson, and I don't think I ever will. But just in case I do, or just in case this might help you or someone like my friend, I'm going to tell you a story about an analogy that was shown to me.

     One Sunday when I was sitting in my church class, patiently waiting for the lesson to begin. I remember feeling really happy, our piano player was extremely good, and I distantly remember that she was playing some of my favorite hymns. I had just barely become old enough to go to a class called "Young Women's," so I was beginning to enjoy the company of all of the girls surrounding me. As I was sitting there enjoying the music and living life, my new church leader stepped into the classroom. In one hand she was balancing a huge bundle of roses, in the other hand she was holding a slender glass vase with a single rose. They were the prettiest roses I had ever seen, and I can almost recall hearing a collective gasp as the beautiful flowers were set down on the table in front of us. When the lesson started, our leader asked us all a question.
"Now, if I was going to give any of you girls these roses, which would you want? The bundle with all of these different beautiful roses, or just the one rose? Raise your hand for all those who would want the bundle..."
Every hand shot up. She laughed,
"That's what I thought." We sat there in puzzlement, wondering about the significance of the question, which was answered to all of the curious onlookers.
"Well, girls, I'm comparing these roses to people... Not just any people, all people are worth the same amount in God's eyes... But I'm talking about boys. Let's compare these roses here to boys." Roses and boys? What's the connection exactly? That was answered pretty quickly too.
"Girls, boys are like roses. They all have worth to them. They are all different... But how will you know which rose you'll like the best until you look at them all individually and give them each a try? Eventually, we will all just have one rose in our vase, we need to make sure that that rose is the best out of the bundle, the one that we love the most."

     I think every teenager could have used that inspirational, heart felt talk. We only have the opportunity to be teenagers once. Why don't we make the best out of it? I've had it pounded into my head by multiple adults, "you will end up marrying who you date." It's true! So why do we have boyfriends and girlfriends? We should give lots of different people a try, not limiting ourselves! Now listen to my analogies on the topic.

      What kind of a deprived person do you think you'd be if you only tasted mint flavored ice cream your whole entire life? Think about it, would you want to grow up and have only eaten one flavor? I don't even like mint ice cream, I hardly like mint flavor at all, and if that's the only option of ice cream I'd ever been given my whole life, I just wouldn't eat it! Then why would you only date one person? You never know what type of person you'd like better or have most fun dating unless you try lots of different people!

     Last comment on the matter... How happy and satisfied would Cinderella really be if she only gave Prince Charming a chance? How would she even know that he was more charming than every other guy in the first place? I don't believe in love at first sight, you have to know what makes that one person special. Looks aren't everything, there's a lot more to a person. Think about it.