Love for a Lifetime, LLC

Random thoughts...Part 2 #DateConsciously #Dating

Today I'm sharing random thoughts that have been floating around in my head for a while.

Be kind to everyone you meet. Offer them a smile and a kind word. It's so easy and can make such a difference in someones life. And the best part...if you do this on a regular basis, you will get hundreds of smiles and kind words in return.

You only control one half of any relationship! That's right! You only control one half of any relationship. It doesn't make any difference whether that relationship is with your significant other, a parent, a child, a friend, a co-worker, etc. You only control your half. The other person controls their half!

Don't hang on to a relationship that isn't working for you. If the person you desire doesn't have time to work on and build a relationship with you it will never work. They will hold all the power in that relationship and that's not healthy. You both need to give a relationship a 100% effort.

Don't be afraid of on-line dating. Look at these websites as a tool to help you meet other people that you would never otherwise meet in your daily life. Be smart when you use a dating website. There are scammers that are looking for soft hearted people to take advantage of. NEVER send money or merchandise to someone that you haven't met and haven't run a background check on. A common scam will be someone on an oil rig in the middle of no where and the computers have crashed, the bank account is frozen in a foreign country, a missionary in the middle of no where with the same problems as the oil rig roughneck.

Become very clear on your relationship "Must Haves". This will keep you focused on what is truly important to you in a relationship when infatuation starts to set in. Infatuation is what blinds us to the realities of a poor relationship.

Don't let fear control your decision making process in a relationship. Fear of being alone, not being good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, thin enough, etc. are some of the most common excuses I hear. There is plenty of information out there to help you deal with self-esteem issues. If you are finding it difficult to change your self-esteem on your own, seek the help of a professional counselor or therapist. NEVER settle for less than extraordinary in a relationship.

You know you're in a long-term relationship when your mate shouts from the bathroom; "Honey, can you bring me a roll of toilet paper?" (Sorry...couldn't help myself with this one!)

If you or someone you know has questions about dating, please send them to me at rick@luv4alifetime.com.

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About the author.

Over the past 30 years, Rick Soetebier has been a student of self and relationship improvement. He is an astute observer of people and relationship issues. Over time and through a relationship and marriage that ended after 25 years, Rick started to develop some of the fundamental principles that are found in his book, Dating Backward: A practical guide to dating and finding your soul mate.  You can benefit from his observations, education, research and personal experience by letting him help you make better relationship decisions. Date consciously and settle for nothing less than extraordinary in your next relationship.