Imagine that you are a single girl.

Sometimes, you wonder why that special man hasn't come across you yet, and other times you think to yourself, "I don't need a man." Additionally, from time to time, you have a crush on a guy but you realize that he's not the kind of guy you thought he was.

It makes your heart hurt. Break. Shatter. Into pieces.

Some people will tell you, when you open up about your feelings, that there are plenty of guys that would drop everything to be with you at this very moment yet you are overlooking. While this is true from time to time, your feelings are entirely valid. You deserve to be loved by a man that will want to be with you.

Now imagine that I am a single guy looking for a committed relationship. Imagine that even though you are crushing on another guy, that I am crushing on you. That I like you. That I want to be more than just friends with you. Just like a single girl, single guys ask themselves the same questions about that special woman. They also think some of the same things.

Additionally, similar things will be said, and when all is told, you will see the obvious fate that guys and girls both face relationship challenges. While some are easy to pinpoint, others are more difficult to understand.

I come from a family where I have a mom who showed me how it is like to be the one who sets food on the table. She helped me with homework, and how to do chores. I have a dad who reminded me the importance of having respect as a man, and the importance of hard work. He also helped me with homework and assisting with other work around the house, such as laundry/doing the dishes. I have siblings who have succeeded academically, athletically, socially, and spiritually.

They have great circles of friends and are working on solid careers.

Having those role models to look after, I have learned so much from them. I have learned how to be responsible around the house. I have learned to be responsible for myself. I have learned to have a work ethic.

But there is so much more that I have to learn.

I have this 'much more' that I have to learn because I see us getting married in my future. I see myself settling down with you. I see us potentially raising a few children together. Growing old together. Being proud parents together.

Imagine that we were in a situation where you gave me a chance after I told you I was interested in a potential relationship. Imagine that we were meeting my parents for the first time. Most of this 'much more' to learn centers around relationships. My mom and dad are still married, and even though there are bumps in the road at home where I have my fair share of fault, my mom and dad are still great people and are still together and my sister is on her way to graduate school, and that is all I can really ask for.

I wish certain things were better or different, but it's not in my hands and all I can do is trust God to work in them.

As someone who I am interested in, you understand how strongly I feel about you, and you understand that I still wanted to introduce you to my family and make myself vulnerable to you even though I had some doubts about how my parents would take to you. Despite that, you are still willing to enter a committed relationship with me. I'm all in.

I want you to know that I didn't fully learn the specifics about dating until I was in college. I didn't fully learn how to make effort with respect to an exclusive relationship, or how to plan dates, and I didn't really know how to date at all. (I don't fully understand it still to this day.) Instead, I was advised on what 'not' to do. I wasn't being advised to give it a try, I wasn't advised to be unafraid of mistakes, and certainly not advised to make mistakes that I can learn from.

However, I fully believed that I have the potential to succeed. I fully believed that I was able to use what I learned about hard work, being responsible, being nice, and being respectful, to succeed in relationships. At a young age, I got the impression that being nice and being respectful are the same. Being nice is an amazing skill to have, but since my first year of college, I realized that being nice and being respectful are actually not the same.

I didn't know at all until I heard a few girls tell me things like, "You're a sweet guy", or "I only see you as a friend", and while that mainly happened in high school and my first few months of college, it still happened. I had to learn.

I had to learn it on my own. When I'm faced with adversity or a tough situation with regard to relationships, I won't fully know how to respond because I'm not sure I've really faced it yet. The fact of the matter is, a worthy boyfriend knows just how to respond, especially when adversity hits in the relationship. They know what to do when their girlfriend is saying 'no' or giving particular signs, or they know that she really means "I'm not fine at all" when she says "I'm fine."

I want to do that with you.

As you can see, I am not a perfect human being. Even though I think I'm a great guy, someone who was raised right, someone who strives to learn more and be a better person each day, I must to prove to you that I am worthy of being your boyfriend.

This article is being written for the sake of perspective and understanding an opinion. It is not based on a true story.