There is nothing that pushes you outside of your comfort zone like dating.
All of my dating to date has begun with online dating. I think that even adds an additional push to the comfort zone, because some people seem to feel comfortable saying superficial, weird, random, offensive, and/or crude things that they might not normally say if they were staring someone straight in the eye.
The online stage of dating makes a really good weed-out tool for these folks.
But sometimes you hit it off with someone and get past the online stage. Then you set up an actual meeting. In my experience this meeting usually takes the form of sharing conversation over beverages (caffeinated or alcoholic), or potentially dinner.
Somewhat surprisingly, there’s the potential for weirdness before you ever meet. Typically after the meeting is set up, I give out my phone number in case one or the other is running late. Texting is a bit more obvious than the dating apps are when it comes to communication.
But what if he starts texting you before you meet? Texts you a lot… Texts you to the point of annoyance…
Do you let your annoyance win and write the man (or woman, if you don’t share my affinity for men) off? Or do you put on your cloak of empathy and realize that maybe the over-texting is a symptom of excitement. Or that he might be nervous and trying to make a stronger connection via text before the meeting.
Today I chose to let go of my feelings of annoyance and embraced empathy instead. We had a nice meeting and conversation, though I won’t be seeing him again.
I’m going with my gut on this one. I trust my intuition more and more…
So, I’m proud of myself for not shutting this guy out and giving him a chance. While I’m not interested in dating this man, I didn’t really know that until I met him in person. I could have ended something important before it even began.
So here’s to a different path and trying to date daringly. It’s damn hard…