How to Date Better

Dating should be casual, fun and flirty—right? But does that change when you are dating to meet the spouse God has planned for you?

Finding a spouse who will share your most treasured values and beliefs can involve navigating some pretty choppy waters and, simply put, you should not dive in impulsively. When we date with marriage in mind, we are shaping a relationship that is built on our character, on overcoming our vices and that leads with our virtues.

Purposeful dating is built on our ability to become the person that God has created us to be. After all, it’s got to be much deeper because we’re talking about “for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

So how can we become the person we are meant to be and go forward dating with purpose and intention?

Sue Haggerty, associate editor for the CatholicMatch Institute, appeared on My Best Friend the Rhino podcast to talk about how to date better and what you can do to prepare to meet your spouse. These hot topics took on a new angle because My BF the Rhino is a show designed to give non-Catholics an introduction to Catholicism.

MBFTR is hosted by Declan, a Pittsburgh blogger who is married to a non-Catholic and Justin, a seminarian studying for the priesthood at St. Paul's seminary.

On the podcast, Sue shares that the first thing you need to do is look at yourself to try to be the right person for someone else. She encourages us to look at ourselves and discover any barriers that might be holding us back from meeting our spouses. Are there are any bad habits we need to overcome? Do we give away our hearts too quickly? Are we afraid of commitment?

If we can look at ourselves honestly to see if we are in sync with the will of God, becoming the person He has called us to be is not only possible, but the best chance to be the person of “somebody’s dreams.”

Sue reminds single Catholics that dating should be fun, it should be exciting, and it should be romantic. There should be as little pressure as possible. But that doesn’t exclude the real purpose of dating, which is finding a suitable spouse.

Sue says a sign of a healthy relationship is that there is movement towards marriage: "It should never be stagnate. A relationship grows and blossoms. There is a natural progression where you have to take that risk and let the other person in. There is no set way that that goes. Every relationship is different. You have to trust and bring it to prayer. ... As the relationship grows there are several leaps you need to take and the final leap is marriage."

Sue talks about a better way to date, how to navigate online dating and ... Napoleon Dynamite.

The interview is fun, helpful and refreshing. Listen to the episode below or check it out at My Best Friend the Rhino!