Current Category is: Dating | Select Another Category
Go Back To Category Homepage | View Category Sitemap
Free Information
Home   |   Search   |   Categories   |   Links   |   About Us   |   Contact Us


Healing the Midlife Love Crisis


All I wanted was to fall in love and live happily ever after. The End.

Except it wasn't that simple. At forty-something, I was hardly "on the shelf", but I was the veteran of two divorces. That gave rise to plenty of self doubt. It gave rise to another more sinister, subtle symptom too: I didn't trust the opposite sex not to hurt me again. And guess what? Since the women I was meeting were in a similar age bracket, and also veterans of some painful emotional history, their fears echoed mine. Result? An almost cast iron guarantee that love cannot flourish! You might as well scatter seed on concrete and expect a wheat field to flourish.

The internet is peppered with such walking wounded. Dating sites abound and literally tens of thousands of people from all over the computerised world are looking for love. Naturally, there are success stories with happy endings. But the vast majority are frustrated individuals. Join these sites for a while, (I did for 3 months and ended up staying for 3 years), and you will see the same faces come round again and again. They are not ugly or evil or dangerous people. They are ordinary people like you and me, and yet somehow love is just eluding them.

Why?

To answer that you have to first ask yourself why anyone wants a relationship in the first place. The answer is not obvious, but it is simple. In just about every generation up to about the 1950's, people got into relationships because it was inevitable. Sooner or later, procreation was going to take place, and pregnancy meant the mothers needed economic support which was, of course, provided by the fathers. Roles were clear, nature played a big part. Whether relationships were "happy" or the couple were "in love" were secondary considerations. The relationship itself was primary, and at all costs was made to survive until death did them part. Add in social and religious pressures, and no wonder our grandparents and all of their forbears stayed together for life.

Nowadays we have a completely different agenda. It boils down to this: we will only stay in a relationship, or even enter into one, if it feels better than not doing so.

In other words, relationships have to make us happy or we're out.

That's a big agenda, but the biggest problem with it isn't its size; it's that it goes unacknowledged. Society, from government to the church to our neighbours, tends towards the old values and we still measure ourselves by them. We still consider ourselves to have failed if we break up a relationship, or worse, if we are the one who is jilted. This, in spite of the fact that we don't bat an eyelid if our friends change career, move house or emigrate no matter how many times they do it. But change partners? There's something wrong with you!

The fact remains, though, that broken relationships lead to broken hearts, and broken hearts hurt. Pain leads to fear, and fear leads to either a total giving up, or an attempt to half commit - with resulting unsatisfactory relationships all round.

So what's the antidote?

Two things, really. First, love yourself. If you can feel good about the person you're guaranteed to wake up with every day of your life, no one can hurt you, because that's your inner strength. It wouldn't matter how many times someone told Arnold Schwarzenegger he was a weakling, would it? He would always know that wasn't true.

Secondly, get clear, really clear, about what you want. And then be honest about that. Do you really want to be with someone with young children? Do you mind if the lovely person you've just met has an almost zero libido? Or an insatiable one?

Also be flexible with yourself about this. Your wants and needs are going to change. They won't be the same three months after the end of a relationship as they will be when three years have elapsed. So you have to learn to listen to your inner self, and not only hear it, but trust it and act on its advice!

What this amounts to actually reduces to an amazing and simple formula for finding and keeping true love. Want to know what it is?

Get to know, like and love the person you spend every day with. (For full details of who that is, check your nearest mirror!)

That's it! That way, you'll have bundles of love to give away, you'll be a joy to be around, (which makes you irresistibly attractive), and during those times when you find yourself alone, you'll be delighted to have your company for a while.

After all, who wouldn't?

Trevor Emdon is a senior Mental Health & NLP practitioner who graduated from Anthony Robbins' Mastery University in 1999 with full honors. He trained in metaphysics with Gill Edwards. His latest book, "How to Love Again After Your Heart's Been Broken" is now published and is available now from http://www.lulu.com/content/111153. He will be running workshops on the subject in spring 2005 He can be contacted at tremailwiz-offers@yahoo.co.uk.


MORE RESOURCES:

Divorced, But Dating Your Ex
Huffington Post (blog)
I asked if everything was okay and she told me that she had started dating her ex. While I was shocked, I knew not to judge her and just listened. She said that she got back together with him after going on some bad dates and feeling lonely.



The Atlantic Wire

Dating Survey Guy Speaks, Defends Himself Against Creepiness
The Atlantic Wire
Last week, the dating "mistake" that had the Internet cluck-clucking in joyful schadenfreude was the survey sent by a "24-year-old finance guy" to one of his dates. Deadspin called it "creepy." But now the survey creator, who gave us permission to use ...
Michael Stolar, Guy Who Sent Dating Survey, Speaks OutHuffington Post
Guy With Weird Dating Survey Defends His Data Collection MethodsDeadspin

all 3 news articles »


Sydney Morning Herald

Dating debacles ... take a walk on your wild side. Photo: Marco Del Grande
Sydney Morning Herald
And in the meantime, whether I revel in the spectacle, play in the jungle with friends or find a sweet spot by myself to get away from it all and reflect, the jungle isn't such a bad place to be. Dating debacles . . . take a walk on your wild side .
Dating debaclesThe Canberra Times

all 19 news articles »


Telegraph.co.uk

Shafilea Ahmed murder: parents 'killed daughter for dating boys'
Telegraph.co.uk
One included the line: “All they think about is honour. I was just like a normal kid. I just wanted to fit in. But my culture was different. But my family ignored.” Shafilea Ahmed murder : parents ' killed daughter for dating boys '
Final piece of the puzzle: sister says parents killed sibling for dating boys ...Sydney Morning Herald

all 474 news articles »


Kim Kardashian & Kanye West's Dating Timeline! (PHOTOS)
Celebuzz
Rumors about them dating go back several years, in fact. Kanye was featured in the January 2011 premiere episode of Kourtney and Kim Take New York and also made an appearance in Kim's video for “Jam (Turn It Up)” back in 2010.

and more »


Heart Evangelista admits dating Sid Lucero
ABS CBN News
MANILA, Philippines -- After breaking up with boyfriend Daniel Matsunaga, actress Heart Evangelista admitted that she is now dating co-star Sid Lucero. “I'm dating pero hanggang d'un lang. I go out with Sid but only on friendly dates,” Evangelista told ...

and more »


Dating Girl: Married co-workers should cool romance
Montreal Gazette
Dear Dating Girl: This past fall, a co-worker and I became involved in a passionate affair. We are both (unhappily) married, she with two young children, and I with a baby on the way. We fell in love with each other and planned to leave our spouses in ...

and more »


Zap2it.com (blog)

Raven-Symone: My sexuality is my business
CNN (blog)
Last week, a new report surfaced claiming that the 26-year-old is gay, and while she didn't address that report specifically, Symoné wrote on Twitter Friday that she's never talked about her dating life, and she doesn't plan to start now.
Raven-Symone answers outing story :: 'My sexual orientation is mine'EDGEOnTheNet
Raven-Symoné: My Sexual Orientation Is MineBET
Raven-Symone Addresses Lesbian RumorsiVillage Entertainment
Zap2it.com (blog)
all 106 news articles »


The Hot Hits

One Direction's Harry Styles Is Dating Sexy Cougar Emily Atack
Hollywood Life
Even though the pair has only recently started dating, it seems the attraction has been brewing, at least on Emily's part, for quite some time. In 2010, the blonde beauty tweeted, “Does Harry from One Direction HAVE to be 16?! Let's pretend he's 18 at ...
Harry Styles is dating Emily AtackSky News Australia
Is Harry Styles Dating Emily Atack?The Hot Hits
Harry Styles Dating Emily Atack: Is Her Harry Lookalike Evidence That She's ...Gather Celebs News Channel
Monsters and Critics.com -Entertainmentwise -NEWS.com.au
all 60 news articles »


Enstarz

Erin Andrews and Chace Crawford: Dating!
The Hollywood Gossip
The genetically gifted pair have been spotted out and about in New York several times now and have celebrity gossip sites buzzing about their status. Crawford been out on "a couple" dates with Andrews, Us reports. "They're getting to know each other," ...
Report: ESPN's Erin Andrews dating 'Gossip Girl' actor Chace CrawfordExaminer.com
Erin Andrews Dating Chace Crawford Story is FalseEnstarz
Erin Andrews dating Chace Crawford of 'Gossip Girl'?OnTheRedCarpet.com
International Business Times -Bleacher Report -Gather Celebs News Channel
all 81 news articles »

Google News

Home   |   Sitemap   |   Disclaimer   |   Privacy   |   Contact Us

© COPYRIGHT 2011 BRAINBELLY.COM