Embrace your passion

Many singles pine for that special someone to come into their lives and bring them happiness.  But life is what happens to you while you were making other plans.  And your life can be much more extraordinary than you ever planned when you adopt a personal ministry.

Your personal ministry is simply a life purpose you adopt.  To it you devote your time, energy, and direction.

Despite the language, your personal ministry doesn’t need to be church-related but should improve the lives of others.  I know someone who’s devoted her life to promoting adoption.  This is no Church calling, but it does bring much good into the world and improve others’ lives.  You can clearly hear her passion when she speaks of her work.  Knowing that her efforts bring meaning to others’ lives provides a foundational meaning for her own life.

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Devote yourself

Please don’t misunderstand.  I’m not attempting to equate this life purpose with the gospel ideal of rearing families in the home.  We should all aspire to have our own family.  And having a personal ministry can complement your marriage and your family by providing a righteous example of doing good of your own accord.  God actually wants men and women who don’t wait for an assignment before doing good (see D&C 58:26-28).

Nor is your personal ministry an alternative lifestyle, something you engage to substitute for having a spouse until hopefully said person comes along.  We want the real thing here.  And your personal ministry helps you find it and keep it.

That’s because your personal ministry manifests your passion.  And that passion appropriately expressed strengthens good in the world, brings hope into hearts, and gives meaning to your life, regardless of whether or not you get married.

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Define yourself

If you really want to get married, especially to the right type of person, engaging your personal ministry also maximizes your chances of doing just that.

I once went out with a lady we’ll call Cindy.  She soon dissuaded me from pursuing her any further.  You see, Cindy was divorced and raising her children alone in a small town while working a dead-end job and waiting for her new happy life to arrive.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’ve got nothing against divorced women or small towns.  My girlfriend is divorced!  And she’s from a town that, while not small today, was small when she was growing up.

It’s Cindy’s lack of purpose that dissuades me.  I understand that raising children alone while working to support them is no picnic.  But Cindy was so absorbed in trying to keep her world together that no one, including Cindy, knows who Cindy really is.  She has defined her whole identity as the mother of her children.

I’m not saying that’s not noble.  I’m saying that alone doesn’t entice me and other good men like me to join her life because that alone is not enough to define who Cindy really is.  A personal ministry — a life mission that she adopts for herself — does.  And that’s something that can help Cindy both keep her world together and attract that new partner into her life.

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Attract your best companion

By devoting yourself to a worthy cause larger than and outside of yourself, you develop and display many of the traits that quality people find attractive.  I’m talking about initiative and dedication and commitment here.  It showcases you as an interesting individual, a person worth getting to know better.  And it says that you aren’t just waiting for your happiness to be thrust upon you.  You’re going out into the world and taking it.

This blog is a part of my own personal ministry to improve the lives of LDS singles everywhere.  I’ve been dedicated to this blog for 31 months — that’s almost three years — slowly working away at producing posts that I hope bring value by improving individual lives.

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My life was changed forever 10 weeks ago when I met my girlfriend.  She’s marvelous in more ways than I have room to list here.  But this blog — just one manifestation of my personal ministry — helped to endear me to her.

Love like you’ve never known is possible.  Very possible.  But any direct campaign to capture it will likely fail.  That’s where your personal ministry comes into play.  It provides the indirect route required for love to find you.  It displays your best you.  It invites others to join a life worth living.

Adopting a personal ministry takes time and dedication, but it can give your life meaning regardless of whatever marital status you now have or will have.  So embrace your passion.  Adopt your personal ministry today.

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