June 21, 2011
I will be 25 years old in ten days and if some one asked me to define my current status I would say single.... Or would I? I had a really revealing and informative textersation (conversation via text) with a good buddy of mine yesterday where I attempted to explain a recent post of mine on Twitter. The question of the hour was "What does making it officially really mean?" Does slapping on a title automatically create a real relationship? Can two individuals coexist successfully in a healthy relationship without the BF/GF title? And the list of questions goes on and on. Now, usually people (mostly women) dislike my relationship advice. I'm not really sure why though. As a proud advocate against titles, I am usually the scorn of most women as they see me as someone willing to do the role without the title. My thought is this: Regardless of a title people are going to do whatever they want! I don't mind being a "friend" if my friend and I are both on the same page about where this "friendship" is going. More important than any title or status is the goal of the relationship. At a certain age BF/GF just isn't enough. What is the end result? Marriage? If it's not then I just really don't see the need to move beyond a friendship. Next thing ya know you're going to have a huge tally of how many failed relationships you've been in. Please have a goal in mind, preferably an agreed upon goal before you embark on anything serious.
Now, a lot of times guys find themselves in a situation where they are fine with not having a title but the girl is not. Balance is key... I say that about almost everything, but it's true. If this girl is someone that you're serious about then it is really time to have a talk with her about why titles make you uncomfortable and then you both come to a happy medium. It's definitely not worth fighting over... Some people feel that titles bring on extra pressure or extra attention. Others may feel that with a title there are certain responsibilities that come with that. It is really easy to get hung up on a title and forget the goal.
Let's take a break from that for a second and try to list and define common terms that refer to relationship status:
1. the most obvious- BF/GF: exclusive, monogamous
2. Talking: getting to know each other, should lead to exclusive
3. Dating: you can be dating one person or multiple people, casual.
Is there a difference between Talking and Dating? And I have not decided if Dating and Talking are on the same level?
4. Messin Around: very casual, physical relationship- may or may not be exclusive
5. "We Cool": you like him/her not really sure where it's going- Danger! Avoid this if at all possible, this is too vague- even for me lol
6. Friends w/ all sorts of benefits: the level of complication for this one varies depending on the people
I'm sure there are more but I'd like for my blog to be PG
According to the Feds, if you're not married you're single. None of these options are available to be checked off on mortgage applications or apartment leases. You can only check married, or single and sometimes they let you check divorced. The point is we waste so much time trying to create these special categories and none of it matters!
People ask me what I want... I had a guy tell me that I didn't seem like the type that wanted to fall in love. At first I was really sad, but then I gave it some thought. He was right. I've been in love before. It was great at first, but it's the worse feeling in the world when the person you fall in love with falls out of love with you! Now I'm just a tad bit on the defense. I want to fall in love again someday. But I think now I have a better handle of who is worth actually falling for.
Life to me is a huge project and God is the project manager. I want a team partner that I know I can be successful in this journey with. Will we be in love? Absolutely. But it's also just as important that we have the same goal in mind at the start of the relationship/friendship. Don't waste your time with someone that you know dating is just a hobby for them. You will end up frustrated and disappointed for no reason. He or she will move on quickly without you and you will be up with a broken heart trying to figure out what went wrong. Nothing went wrong, you were just someone to fill that time.
Everyone is different... and just like you would not let some one rush you into making a decision, don't let anyone talk you into a status you're not comfortable with. If you're a title person, fight for your rights! If you're not, make sure you both are crystal clear on what's allowed and what's OK.
This is just for your reading pleasure... My advice does not have to be taken. After all, I'm the idiot who stayed in the talking phase for 2 years and 9 months and at 2 years and 10 months he decided he wanted to "talk" to someone else... so yeah we all have things to learn!
Nonetheless, I welcome all comments!
"This time around you may not think K.B Knows Best, but I'm sure in the future I'll pass the Test"
