Does that apply to me?

Over the last several weeks I have read a multitude of talks by President Hinckley. In a few of these talks he gave very direct counsel about divorce and preventing it--that its main cause is selfishness and what is needed to remedy a struggling marriage is repentance. He also talked about parenting and protecting children. The talks were given in the years and months immediately preceding the time when my family broke apart. I wonder if my parents listened to and/or those General Conference addresses. What happened that they decided that that counsel did not apply to them? Did they hear it and forget it? Did they decide they were an exception?

Being a young single adult in the church I hear a lot about dating, relationships, and marriage. The theme recently seems to have been that we should be willing to accept the responsibilities of marriage. (I've been reading lots of talks because I am in a religion class on the teachings of the living prophets. It's neat to feel more in touch with what they are saying to us now.) Other talks discuss how we should not be looking for perfection in a potential mate and that we should understand that marriage relationships are not full of romance all day every day. We should be looking for a partner who has a testimony of the gospel, who is active, loves the Savior, and has the similar life goals to our own. I hesitate to continue with this topic for fear of sounding like a bitter ex, but here I go. I have had more than one man end a relationship saying something like this, "You are great. I really love you. I know we could work out our differences and be very happy together. BUT I don't feel a spark anymore. You're just not my ideal woman. I want to see what else is out there." Those are direct quotes from three different men spliced together. Again I wonder: do they not hear the same messages I do? Do they really think those things don't apply to them? Or are they not self reflective enough to realize they are the very people the prophets are talking to and about?

I don't bring these topics up to justify myself and my actions or to point fingers at others. It's actually made me think seriously about myself. I wonder if there is counsel given by the prophets that I completely disregard. Are there times when I think that something doesn't apply to me? It's a scary thought, really. I mean, it has the potential of causing exaltation to be lost. I know that might sound over dramatic, but falling away starts with things that are small and simple and gets out of hand before you realize it. In a less dramatic sense, I would hate to realize too late that something did apply to me, that I screwed up big time and hurt someone else and/or myself.

So the question is then, how do I avoid being in that situation? I don't think my parents or ex-boyfriends intentionally flouted the words of God's prophets. They're more faithful than that. But how does it happen? And how can it be prevented? The only solution I've come up with so far is to diligently keep tabs on what the prophets are saying. I can't follow counsel I don't hear. When I hear or read that counsel I will ask "how does that apply to me?" instead of "Does that apply to me?" It seems safer to go under the assumption that everything applies to me.