Dating is a nightmare

I came to a realization the other day. I had no business dating in high school or college. No offense to anyone I dated. It's not you. It's me. (That's what they all say.) Seriously, though. I look back at the relationships I had, and I wonder what I was thinking sometimes.
In high school: Why bother? I never dated a boy any longer than two weeks at a time before something went terribly wrong. Did I learn? Nope. I just kept on. And I'm not even going to mention the boys that I kissed without ever actually "dating" or "going-with" (as we put it). In fact, very little "dating" went on in my small town ... unless you count walking someone to their locker "dating". Which we did. Except it was "going". Weirdness.

Now, I come to college. 5 years of my life that I will never get back. (Yes, 5. I took my time for financial reasons, not because I failed any classes.) I don't regret my education at all. In fact, I wish I could re-live those years, just so that I could get a little more out of my classes. Now that I'm older, I wonder what I could have accomplished if I had just paid more attention in Music Theory or Worship Seminar.
Anyway, the time I took dating people left me with a lot of heartache. I suppose I could say that I learned a lot about relationships and I applied that to my marriage, eventually. Except that I was trying to date people back then for the wrong reasons. I wanted so desperately to belong to someone, but I wasn't ready to make a lifelong commitment. I ended up hurting myself and the men I dated in the longrun.

So my advice: If you're single and you're lonely - it's going to be okay. Don't rush into anything. In fact, the moment I decided to stop dating and start focusing on my relationship with Jesus Christ was the moment everything started to change for me. The man I would later marry started asking me out, and although I resisted, he persisted and here we are (almost 10 years of marriage later). One can never go wrong by taking some time to pour into your relationship with your Creator.