Dating games, risks and taking a chance on love

It’s been an interesting weekend to say the least.

Let me start at the beginning, I’m single, I’ve been trying to meet people online to date.

On Sunday I had a date “planned” with someone. By planned, we’d sort of arranged to meet this weekend but made no time or definite schedule. From 6pm on Saturday until 3pm Sunday he did not reply to my messages, so when someone I’d never spoke to previously asked me to lunch on Sunday I decided to take a chance and say yes, I never do such confident and ballsy things but why not?

Was this deceptive to the other guy? I don’t think so. Maybe you do, let me know your opinions.

So anyways, my random date with a stranger I had barely spoke to.

We met at half 12, by 1pm I knew I REALLY liked him. By 2pm I knew this could be something amazing. By 6pm he’d gone home got changed and was back to see me again. At 10am this morning I was sad that we had to part.

Sometimes if I feel something is special my usual no detail untold policy goes out of the window and I feel somethings are best known only by those involved. Me, the girl who never shuts up, becomes a little bit private.

But this date, something about it felt very very effortless and right. We connected. It’s fair to say It was the best date I’ve ever had and that 24 hours is very high on my list of best moments ever.

Sometimes you have to take a risk in order to open yourself up to the chance to fall in love, to be happy.

I decided to take that risk and we decided to become exclusive straight away. To date someone else would feel very wrong when I want to see where this could go.

So I set did the cardinal sin, I changed my relationship status on Facebook.

Now here’s where it gets interesting….

I messaged the date I had planned for the weekend but that never happened and apologised. I explained, honestly, I never deceived him, genuinely liked him, but in his brief absence I accepted another date and now wished to follow my heart and see where it went.

He accused me of setting a bad example to my blog readers by pursuing something so fast and by saying its ok for someone else to follow my lead and risk getting hurt.

Really??

Do I ever recommend you guys do anything based entirely on my actions, my opinions and my feelings?

I like to think that my readers take my opinion, my experience and use it in any way it helps them, be that making then laugh, inspiring them, allowing them to avoid mistakes I’ve made by seeing me do it first, or by just giving them a five minute break from their own problems.

I assume everyone uses their own brain to make their own decisions about their own life, and rightly so.

I’ve always been honest with you guys from day one, that will never ever change!

Was how I went about this date right? I don’t know, but I never deceived anyone, I only ever followed my heart.

If I had met the other guy first I would have given him the courtesy of not dating anyone else while I decided if we had a future. I’ve never been the type to date more than one at once, even first dates only.

But following your heart is risky. He’s right. Am I setting a bad example to you?

Following your heart is risky.

Do I advise you do it too?

9 months ago I flew across the globe to have major surgery in a place I had never been to, with people I had never met and a surgeon I knew little about.

I took a risk. That risk paid off and was the best thing I have ever done with my life.

Would I advise you do the same? If you research and use your own judgement of the situation then sure. Am I to blame if you are inspired by me and something goes wrong? God I really hope not, and I’d help anyone whom this happened to.

So back to the story.

A risk in love is not dissimilar to the risk I took with surgery! I blindly followed my one true goal, being happy.

Do I advise you to become exclusive after one date? Do I advise you to meet a stranger off the Internet within 3 hours of his first message? Do I advise you invite said stranger round to your home? Do I advise you risk it all, open your heart and believe that something remarkable could happen all the while risking rejection, being used, or getting hurt?

YES!

I trust everyone to make their own decisions in life, to do only what they feel is safe and right for them, to follow their heart and to risk it all for the sake of happiness.

Do I promise it will all work out in the end?

Of course not!

But in order to be open to opportunity you must take a risk. You must calculate the risk of a situation with the potential rewards.

I am aware my situation could backfire, for any number of reasons, but dating is about experience, about getting to know someone else, about finding yourself as you do, about following your heart to the person who makes you smile and makes your heart flutter with each touch.

What if I get hurt? What if it’s all a con? A charade to get into my pants? People keep asking me.

But what if it’s not? What if it’s the real thing? The start of something amazing? The one thing I’ve always dreamed of experiencing in life, true love?

Maybe I’m just a hopeless romantic, but for true love, no risk is too big!