Where's Waldo and Dating?!
This note is dedicated to all those continuing the search to find their future spouse. I know exactly how you feel.
Finding the right person to marry is, in fact, like working through a Where’s Waldo book. Why you may ask? Well, for a good many reasons it turns out. Allow me to elaborate.
First, both involve searching strategically. You search in every place you know possible. For finding the right spouse you look everywhere that makes sense to you – for some this means church, the local library, work, social events of various sorts, online, or somewhere entirely different. Of course there are places you steer away from too - for me this includes bars, antireligious events, and any place where I must be overly outgoing. Trying to find something in a Where’s Waldo book works exactly the same way. You look all over all the sections of the page, checking different nooks and crannies on the page, starting with the part with that conglomerated mass because you know it’s a likely location, hoping to find what you are looking for. You may develop strategies of how best to find what you are looking for, or you may just go at it, but you certainly don’t check the floor or your chair though because you know what you are looking for won’t be found there.
Second, both involve lots of work. Looking for a future spouse is no simple task…and neither is finding Waldo, any of the gang, or that blasted scroll, key, or dog bone! I can’t tell you how much work I have put into finding the right spouse. Even if you find a person that appears to be the right person things may not work out for various reasons. Learning to accept this is a difficult thing. It means taking chances and risking yourself, via your heart. Nobody wants to have to risk that, but the reality is it is necessary. And, additionally, there is a lot of work in making a relationship work at all. I know because I’m one of those people that takes things seriously and I go all in because I know that’s the only way to really find out. As for how this relates to Where’s Waldo…I think we all know how challenging it can be to find that darn elusive one thing! Then of course even when you put the work into finding it, you may end up right back where you started…researching that section or the whole page. You also may have a false lead, when you see something of the same size, shape, or color, and then realize that is not what you were looking for. All of this requires your attention and work.
Third, both involve points of frustration. Let’s face it...dating relationships and trying to choose the right person to ask out are very frustrating. For a thinker like me, I keep thinking about all of the complications, problems, and challenges. There are times where you just want to throw in the towel. But you don’t actually want to at the same time. You want to stop dating a specific person, and perhaps you do. You don’t want to talk about tough things, and perhaps you do. You don’t want to try and date anymore because it just hasn’t worked out in the past. You don’t want to wait anymore. The list of frustrations goes on forever if you let it; you’ll just have to trust someone who spends most of their time thinking about it. In Where’s Waldo you reach a point where you dad gum are sure you have checked every location on that blasted page and yet you know that whatever you can’t find simply HAS to be there. You want to give up, but you know if you do you’ve let a book defeat you. You search again and again to no avail. You consider cheating. You consider skipping it.
First, each involves time. Finding the right person to marry is a real leech on time. That’s just the way it is. It takes time to ask someone, it takes time to get to know people, and it takes time to discern whether someone is actually the right person or not. Unfortunately, there is no way around it. Time only goes forward and you give up tons of time to trying to find the right person. The amount of time each person has to spend on this very significant task varies in the extreme. For some, it’s almost immediate, and for others it can takes decades. The only two people that control the time element are God and you, and God has ultimate control…but if you do nothing you won’t ever get anywhere. Then of course there is how much time it can take in Where’s Waldo to find something. Some people just get it in two seconds, and others can look for hours and still not find that one thing. You just never know until you start looking at the page how long it will take, but one thing is for sure…if you keep looking you know you WILL find it because you know it’s there somewhere.
So whether you’re looking for Waldo or Wanda (and hopefully not Odlaw) you should know that though it will take time, involve lots of work, force you to think strategically, and at times make you frustrated, you can rest assured that you WILL find that which you seek with the help of God. Don’t give up because that person may just be one block away and they are waiting for you to find them! Your future is in your hands!
