The Dating Game!!!!!!

 When you hear the word date, what does it bring to your mind? Maybe it is the really awkward last date you went on, or your high school prom. The truth is, there are lots of different things that you can do on dates. The sad thing is, nowadays people don’t go on dates, the “Hang Out.” There is a big difference between going on a date and hanging out. Dating actually has a couple of different steps to them while hanging out can be playing Xbox as a group of friends.

The definition of dating has changed a lot over the years. It used to be common to go on dates with a lot of different people and try to get to know them. Now… it isn’t. In order for something to be considered  a date you need to have reached these qualifications. It needs to be planned, paid for, and paired off. It is important that every party knows what is happening on the date, or you may be overdressed, or under-dressed. Also, when you have a specific idea for your date you are more comfortable and not as likely to run into awkward situations. This has definitely happened to me. I didn’t know what we were doing until my date showed up. Let me just say, this was the most awkward experience of my entire life! I couldn’t even look at the guy for a day or two after because I was stuck on the date. Oftentimes when someone pays for the date, it is a guy. It doesn’t always have to be that way though. It should be that whoever does the asking, pays for the date. Now it does seem quite a daunting task to pay for all aspects of a date, but the truth is it doesn’t need to be expensive. You don’t have to go on a day date with fancy restaurants, you don’t have to pay $40 to get into an escape room or something else. It could be as simple as playing laser tag and spending $8, or even just covering the gas it takes to get to a hike. It could even be as simple as McDonald's. Sometimes the best dates are the ones that don’t cost anything. The last step is paired off. This may seem super simple but is crucial. If you are on a group date but never talk to your date, how can you say you got to know him or her. You can’t!!!! You don’t have to only talk to your date, but you should spend time getting to know your date. 

Something else that is new with relationships and dating in the world we currently live in deals with the Relationship Attachment Model. This is a model scientists came up with that shows the ideal way of how we form relationships with people. It comes in 5 steps; know, trust, rely, commit, and touch. First, we have step of know, once you know someone you can trust them because you know how they will treat you, and just who they are as a person. Then you can start to rely on them to help you with problems, and with life in general. Then commit, and after you are committed to the person comes trust. It is kinda like a step ladder down into your relationship. Nowadays we don’t know someone very well, and immediately turn to trust, then rely, commit, and touch. This messes the whole system up sadly, and then you grow and become better. 

Now, you know some ways to improve your dating life, don’t be afraid to go on dates with many people. It is super important to get to know lots of different people. Go on simple dates, don’t just hang out, and make sure you really know someone before you start to trust them with every intimate detail of your life. This might just help you avoid roadblocks in life like so many other people throughout the world. Well, talk to you later!!!!!