Dear Readers,
As you can tell - it is past January 26 and I never finished the "27 Things" Series. I turned another year older and I confronted this challenging month head-on, learning life-lessons from experiences that a specific "list" would never fulfill.
Anyway, as a newly 27-year-old, single, and unattached (at least at the present time) to any guy, I thought about the recently upcoming Valentine's Day holiday. The idea for these posts came from a movie that recently aired on the Hallmark Channel (I know, I know - cheesy!), about a female journalist who is instructed to write Valentine's Day columns for each day leading up to February 14th. She specifically focuses on the various aspects of the holiday, as a lady who doesn't actually "embrace" the whole romantic side of life. She succeeds in writing the columns and ends up with the guy at the conclusion of the movie (spoiler alert!)
As I sat there watching the movie, I thought to myself, "I should do a series along those lines about Valentine's Day." And, I should put a spin on it from a single gal's point-of-view. So, without further ado, here is the first post: "Dating."
I recently had this happen to me tonight. Of which, I turned the whole thing down. Ladies, we have the innate intuition inside of us that allows us to have an understanding of situations from a woman's perspective. When something doesn't feel right or completely feels awkward, it's okay to say "no." Of course, you should let down "said guy" gently and try not to, as the movie I previously mentioned said, "right off every guy." In other words, "you've got to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince." And, to be completely honest, that "prince" is probably not going to appear on a white groomed horse in a shining knight suit, to sweep you off your feet.
Any relationship, should start off with, in my opinion, as friends who are coupled by the truth in getting to know each other. Yes, there will be times when you're trying to impress that other person that you've developed an interest in. However, your time together should be grounded on basic principles of respect, maturity, understanding, and above all else, getting to know each other. A date should be something that allows you and the other person "space" to share about each other in a comfortable environment and atmosphere, while at the same time - surrounded by the notion that you're both "together" at that particular place and time because you're interested in each other.
With that, it's important not to "feign" interest. So many times, I have "hid" my crushes for fear that things "could" go somewhere or had the "potential" to, all because my fear of "succeeding was greater than my fear of failure (also another quote, though I forget by whom). Dates allow us the time to get to know another human being through a common or a shared interest. They also allow us to explore the mind and the interests of another individual, while allowing us a mirror to look in to ourselves. Through dating another person, we say that we are ready to put someone else first while at the same time, getting to know ourselves in a new way. Dating is a time of exploration, and uncertainty, commitment, and phobias, all with an individual who is equally (hopefully!) as interested in us as we are with them.
So, to all of the "single-guy's/gal's" out there who are reading this, and even those who are married, get to know your date.
Cheers!
