Quote:
Originally Posted by BellaOctober1
Happy Monday from Kansas City Missouri!
Been a while since I've been on this board, but it seems to be rolling along just fine :O)
It's been two years since the end of my 12 year partnership and I think I'm ready to date again. My sister wisely informed me, "You won't know if you're ready till you get back out there!" LOL.
Aside from not hurting anyone, dating real-time (not LDR)...any advise?
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Hi Bella,
I kinda agree with your sister. I broke up with my partner of 2 years in July. We broke up for very good reasons and we both knew it needed to happen but it had been a serious relationship and we were crazy about each other.
It's taken me 6 months but I now feel ready to re-enter dating land. In those 6 months I became really protective of my time and space and designated every Saturday as a self care day to hike with my pup, read, write, drink tea, take baths and most importantly
talk to no one. That sounds extreme but it was just what my introverted self needed to become reacquainted with single me.
I knew I was ready when I got to the point of feeling happy and complete on my own and people (friends, co-workers, etc, not just potentially romantic interests) started to become gradually more drawn to me as I began to recover my energy, attitude and confidence.
As for dating real time...I like
okcupid. I know that's online but their questions and detailed stats are really helpful. Their system streamlines the process of finding people who share your values and interests. All the questions are user generated so you can even create your own content according to your values and when you answer a question about your preferences you can assign that question a value to indicate how important it is to you. As in: I'd prefer a lover who can cook (though that's optional), but they absolutely MUST be a kinky bastard.
I've had 2 very good okcupid dates so far and there weren't any red flags (or even pink ones) in those dates because I had enough information from their profile, our compatibility ranking and our message exchange to feel confident deciding whether it would be worth the time and energy to meet in person.
Sorry, that was long. I hope it was helpful.