How have pornography impacted our society

 This is a common issue we currently have in the world. The problem arises when people don't realize how terrible it has done to our world. Growing up and going to school in Texas, the view of pornography was something the youth engages in. Knowing this now made me understand their actions. It is what drives us to making poor decisions. It makes a person become delusional due to the visuals that can be stuck in your mind. Lust is truly something we cannot underestimate, ultimately distort our reality when it comes to really loving another. Within a marriage, people may come into it with those kind of baggage. Does it help? No! That is no way to be intimate with your spouse, especially when you create someone who isn't real. Porn demeans people for who they really are. Another big thing to avoid is having unrealistic expectations. Their partner will never be as ideals, never really giving us true joy. I've had met people who only pursue on sexual arousal. People involves themselves in adultery with false ideas that their marriage isn't working for them. I can't tell enough how disappointed people are when they actually go through these problem. Taking back to the beginning, people does not understand how horrifying it can be. It gets worse in circumstances and situations, leading us to do things that contradicts our morals and beliefs. Keeping clear boundaries is important since we are still tempted with many things. At the same time, having an open mind to know your weakness can help you stay alert. Being true to who we set to be is crucial. Taking us far in resisting the act that might actually follows up with another bad decision. Keeping us safe from the scars that might hinder our future choices. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, my covenants has been the foundations that's hold me strong. My relationship with people and with the Savior has kept me away from pornography. When I know what is more important to me, I make the choice to keep or sacrifice. We can't have both good and evil, we stand on one side. We should not even relate to people in a sexual way. Committing the act is obviously bad, but to start something that can ignite passion may lead us astray to doing something we regret. This is a promise people should make to the lord to not even look at a woman with lust, especially your spouse. It is not hard to have virtue, we won't have secrets to keep in any relationship. The struggles comes when we are hiding porn in our lives. we becomes ashamed of the enjoyment. We have to ask the question if we wanna go through that in our lives. And really, it's not worth the life that was given to us. Strict rules against porn will help us stand our grounds. Strong influences comes from lust, so make the change if need so. Your mind needs to be in good health too as well as your body. There is no need to have those damages in our life when you have righteous beliefs. It is so easy to be light minded, being alert at all time is important. We have to watch what we see in our world. I might not even feel guilty about some of these things. Ultimately, there's no excuse for anyone who have build up safeguards. Especially people who made covenants within the church. Overall, everyone who has been involve in pornography is in need to be forgiven. That doesn't mean you should marry them. They are just not ready for marriage. Our habits speaks louder than letting people have the knowledge. There are areas we must overcome in order to have true stability. Let's strive to be the best in ourselves rather than being a part of a culture currently in place.  

Transitions Points in Marriage

 Courtship, engagement, marriage, children are all phases in a relationship couples go through together if they are willing to take on. Most of us will ask if we are going to be ready for these events in our lives. Wondering if we're going to be prepare for these commitments. To start, courtship is simply dating and getting to know each other at a beginning of a relationship. Not so committed, but enjoy the company while building a relationship. Next is the engagement, this phase of commitment ensures that you are seeing a person individually and putting fences up to any other potential relationship. People make this decision as a preparation to cohabit with each other. It is an actually transition to a life where people make choices to what they will do in the future to make it work. Years ago, it is common for a gentlemen for man to commit himself completely. Asking a woman out of the blue without discussion to marry them. Compare to today, couples would have deep and throughout conversations before they commit to marriage. This kind of engagement has changed over the years and the woman are more likely to bring up marriage than the males. There's data that also suggest in a difficult part of marriage, the woman would overcome when she remembers the early part of their marriage where the husband was completely committed and would do anything for her. Her memories are quite fond of what the husband showed in the past. Another part about engagement, is the planning part of it. How can you merge your life together and what might be some things you need to sacrifice. Two lanes merging to make one may be simple, but there are factors like money, time, work, furnishes, etc. Boundaries are drawn with huge decisions to make as part of their engagement. How much one person be talking to their exes, families, friends, showing how committed they should be in order to make things work out for each other. As far as boundaries, people need to know that problems will not be solve in a marriage. People need to address their problems, so that it won't come up later in marriage. Everyone has their own kind of baggage they each have, we have to ask ourselves if we're able to work through it with our significant others. Another part of marriage people may seem to take on, is a type of contract. While you are engage or in marriage, people creates some binding rules that played into boundaries. While I give this and you give this is part of a contract, covenants is also a contract. But it is set by a higher authority where it is much more powerful with the connections that involves it. Not only committed to each other, but a commitment to God or even to a community. In some ways, couples who have children are in some ways in a contract with each other. They would feel obligated to stay, more so for raising their kids. People feel like that's what they owed because of the situation. Vice versa with the child where they are making the decisions with their parents. Overall, I feel like people just needs to be committed to what people decide to do. Are we going to do the things we said we're gonna do and keep them. What will make of us if we don't take on responsibilities. The blessings are waiting and wanted, how much are we all willing to commit and love each other. I personally need to know what I would be
committed to. Be logical and find out what will be beneficial in the grand scheme of our lives. Not say we won't make mistakes, we will and was it planned. Or do you need to plan then? Provide the needed support for the bridges that's been created.               

Dating and Marriage

 I believe the youth today is prematurely taking on dating in their own way. But at the same time, we are receiving the opportunities to be ourselves when it comes to dating. There has been many complaints regarding today's courtship. Most youth has given up due to bad experiences they had with a boy or girls. I'm pretty sure that our generation today has a different standard than what people had 20 years ago. From my personal feedback I received, commitment has been the huge issue. With commitment, people tend to display responsibility, integrity and honestly self respects. From what I've been told, not a lot of that is being spread around as it should. I've taken the liberty to go on more dates this semester than the last. I've got my own issue too, not to say I'm better than most. The traditional way of courtship is seen as the worst option for our youth. From the girls perspective, the men are not that creative anymore. Some of them just wants to watch movie in their room. Some wants to just play video games and honestly just want temporal pressures. Many would get cold feet, giving a person no closer. No continuations to proceed marriage. The m term seems to be something that isn't part of their careers anymore. It seems like there's a ton of responsibility that comes from it. People nowadays just want a one time fling that will become of nothing. The one time relationships are more for confirmation than anything else. People may feel insecure, so they decide to get into physical intimacy that only last for that day. The natural pleasure won't satisfied us forever, it'll leave us to an empty shell that'll make us wanting more in the end. No joy can come from those actions. When it comes to dating, I believe that I was able to learn one thing or two. On a date, if people actually decide to go on one, can find out who they really are. There are things I was able to learn about myself and it has been quite the surprise. I had found flaws that I can personally work on in order to better myself. Sure I was being who I am, but it doesn't mean I can't be better everyday. I didn't pay for the ice cream on the first date! Why? I just had the wrong expectation with how things should be. There's actually an expectation both sides got to meet in order for a person to be themselves. On the date, a person needs to be able to be themselves, to communicate and get to know the person on a deeper level. I learned that woman pays attention to how they feel on the date. They remember what they did with you and wonders if that's something the want to live with. Not wanting to know if we can provide and among other things that are unimportant. It is also good to know that people may not be looking for the right things. A person may be looking for something specific about them, but in the end finds out that it doesn't matter. Like height difference for example, girls tend to like taller guys due to the standards that's been set. These are things people may look for that won't matter. But we can learn through our experiences. I personally don't have too many experiences in this field. but I will still continue on learning so that I can reach my potential. I don't know when it will happen, so now is the time to take action. A person needs

 to know who he is to find a person that best fits him. I must say, everyone has some kind of baggage to work through. The question would be if I wanna live with it and love it with all my heart.  

Gender Attraction

 This is actually a very sensitive topic to most people in the world. Considering that it has effect people in their families, religions and personal beliefs. To me, I have never had the trouble to figure out my sexuality. Which for me is a great blessing that I didn't have to go through the rough times today. I've wondered how parents may have responded and how children reacts to the way one can be attracted with each other. Ultimately, it's about how people generally see gender and what it is. For example, people in Thailand gives off the explanation that "love is love." It is how they see love differently than we do as a culture. Even in the church, their are perspective and life experiences that would add up to one's sexuality. Social media has played a huge part to the world and what it portrays nowadays acceptable. With how I personally grow up, I watched Disney movies to help me identified me as a man, giving me a clear conscience to who I am and what my role is. My parents were also a factor that played a huge role in my life. How my mom and dad treated me that brought me to have better understanding. Friends from school will also have an effect. One of the situations brings a child and which gender do they wanna be around more. A young man who gets along and spent his time more with girls can be seen as unusual. Other boys would make fun of them to being more feminine. But when a girl spends her time more with the boys, they see that as a tom boy, which can be seen as cute in our culture. As you can see, the reactions to these situations are all learned behaviors. By the social construct, we created the environment that is now well known today. Is the boy gay because he started playing Barbie when he was four? The bigger question would be how the father or mother would tell him in that situation. You see, we starts to learn more about gender roles by the influences we experienced in our early ages. Which makes me realized that people who are gay and lesbians were raised in a way that they themselves are identified. People who say "I was born this way" doesn't really understand that statement isn't necessarily true. They say things like "I'm just attracted to males or females, or may be both need to know that they were taught at some point in their lives that it was learned. This is a free world as well it is a fallen world, so agency is still in play for people to decide. But I will say that I am currently frustrated with the double standards where we have to accept opposing views completely, but they don't have to accept ours. Again, agency is still a big part, but to hate on others just because they don't believe in a sexuality due to reasons like religion is completely biased. For me to say that I don't believe in gay marriages doesn't mean I'm saying people who are homosexual are bad people. The same exact thing needs to be said vice versa. Regardless of my frustration, there is an explanation as to why people believe the way they are. It is learned, not born with. To be more clear, anyone who says "I was born this way" usually are people who stops their progression on being happy. They set themselves up to what the world and the people around them might say. Letting things effect them rather than taking steps to finding truth that may set them free. Even with scientific facts will not clear people's conscience that there is one way. Not any others when it comes to marriage and sexuality.