Integrating two lives in any environment is at best a challenge. Integrating two lives that are in separate turmoil, on separate paths, and with separate ideas about life does not a magically make a happy existence. Relationships are constant work.
However, dating is the lightest level of being in a relationship and should be taken as such. You are not yet making mortgage payments with your date partner or raising children together so have fun and enjoy the whole experience.
Dating is the part of life that allows you free access to discovering the types of personalities that appeal to you in the opposite sex. Every date you engage in will not be a spectacular experience but if you learn something new or verify something you’ve touched on in the past from each date then it can’t be considered a total loss. You have to consider that dating opens your mind to new and exciting activities and it also prepares you for serious relationships.
Gone are the days whereby you are considered, as a woman, loose or promiscuous if you date a few men at once or many men overall in your dating career. And gone are the days where men feel pressured to take the first step toward initiating contact, plan the date, and pay for everything. The world of dating has encountered a silent solid revolution and as the perfect revolution goes no one was killed but improvements were established.
If you are a young participant in the dating world you may not even realize “we’ve come a long way baby” but as the new years will assuredly bring forth new and improved dating tips, secrets, and general etiquette the younger generations will see their own revolution occur.
As for the more mature participants (and this can include individuals well into their seventies) in the dating scene you have seen many changes. Maybe some of the changes have brought slight turmoil to the table of dating. But so many more of the changes must make you feel good to be alive, adventurous and vibrant. That is why communication with your date is imperative. Odds are you are dating a person close to your age. It is likely they recognize and feel as awkward with the changes as you.
Communication is important in all relationships. Dating is no exception. Honesty and integrity are important also. You don’t have to lay your whole life on the line to date, you simply have to set aside some quality time to indulge in meeting new people, experiencing new and old pastimes, and be a person that gravitates toward the happiness we as humans so often neglect.