You may have guessed from the title that I’m going to suggest that you take a break from dating. Well, you're right but only if you can relate to some of the scenarios below.  As a Licensed Therapist who treats both men and women, I hear the war stories. Yeah, that’s right, “The war stories of dating.” Today, I am not here to talk about the happy endings, that’s for another blog post. Today, I want to speak to people who are tired of meeting new people, have lost the excitement for dating, are copy and pasting their answer responses into chats, and those who are currently in unhealthy relationships. As you continue to date and meet new people, harboring some of your old feelings can only lead to disaster. Some of you may relate to losing hope, becoming negative, settling, lowering your standards in a potential mate, and even losing trust in who you are.

Dating is not easy and when you start to feel any of the above-mentioned signs, stop dating. It is time to take a step back and regroup. Instead, spend some time with yourself and the people around you that you love and who love you back. This can include engaging in new and old hobbies/interests, hanging out with friends and family, attending therapy, taking trips alone and with others, etc., What is the goal? The goal is stepping back to give yourself time to be with and get to know YOU. Explore, YOU. Enjoy YOU! 

Dating can be very complicated. However, you can find yourself running into some great people who are better suited to be our friends rather than a romantic connection. You may find that there is a season in your life when you find yourself dating a bunch of losers. Either way, both situations can be frustrating because it doesn’t end how you would like it to; which is you being in a relationship. I treat people who have found a great connection and then they are ghosted, or things don’t work out. Then some people seem to keep running into the same type of people. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is DATING 2022. I want you to be prepared for EVERYTHING and when things are not going as planned, you may exit stage left and take a break. A part of the process of dating is finding out what you like, what you don’t, and all of the juicy stuff in between. As you learn these things by spending some time with YOU, you can request others. Stay encouraged.