Positive Reinforcement

I had brunch with a friend who I haven’t seen in some time today. I detailed by recent dating history, and during one particular story said, “I screwed that up!” She quickly interrupted me and said, “You didn’t screw it up, say things didn’t work out!” It’s the same result, different perspective.

It seems the unhappier you are, the more single you become. Every act, mistake, and reasons for being single is magnified 100%. While there are many reasons for being single, they’re not aways our fault. Sometimes we’ve met the wrong person, or they weren’t ready for a relationship. To improve our dating chances, there’s only two things we can work out, ourselves and our attitude. Both rely on the other to survive.

Working on yourself seems to be the easiest of the two tasks. A change of clothes, a new look look or an update a profile definitely help. Working on your attitude is a tougher task. It usually requires having to change how you perceive things, keeping a positive outlook and maintaining a sense of discipline to not beat yourself up too much. This type of change requires more than just a spit shine, it has to deal with goals, habits, and health.

One aspect to dating, somewhat touched upon, is our mental health. Whether we are truly happy with ourselves. Many determine happiness based on whether they are with another person; others determine it based on the quality of their life. I believe the latter is the best approach. I tend to dip into the self-loathing, self-depreciating deep end of the pool. Instead, I should be focusing on the improvement and possibilities, the “it didn’t wok out” opposed to the “I screwed up!” (No worries, this is a 2010 goal!) This is often the long term, heard to deal aspect of dating. There isn’t a happy pill regardless of what your doctor, or dealer, tells you. This is something that burns within each person.

Every so often, I find myself needing to revisit two books, both have helped with my own attitudes and approach to dating. The core messages from these books are often used in several popular male dating books. They are “First Things First” by Steven Covey, and “What Should I Do With My Life?” by Po Bronson. These aren’t dating books, but time management and life focused books. They deal with many of the core issues that, I believe, prevents us from achieving our goals.

It’s important to maintain a happy, positive outlook on dating. As someone told me in an e-mail, “Dating in New York is like eating glass and expecting your mouth not to get cut.” Sure it’s hard, but no one ever wants to date a sourpuss.

Sources:

https://www.remittancesgateway.org/community/dedert/

http://sqworl.com/u.php?user=101360

http://prince.org/profile/Himlk

https://www.tradingfloor.com/traders/jamesjeel

What's Good For the Goose Isn't Good For the Gander

Double standards are a linchpin of modern society. Actually probably for all society and cavemen of the Geico era. Point is, double standards exist and for quite a few of them, women end up on the short end of the stick (thought don't be mistaken, there are also double standards that work totally in women's favor and they  usually end up with the man's wallet ending up lighter). 

A common question I've heard includes this disbelief by some women that a man would instantly break up with her if she ever cheated whereas many women would be more interested in attempting to work out the issue and figuring out why the man did what he did. Of course, the man would pay a dear and hefty fine for his trangressions, but he would be expected to want to work on it.

So why are men such douches when it comes to women messing up? Simple. Loyalty. Again, remember this isn't about making sense it's about explaining the non-sense. For some odd reason, when a man is dating a woman and proclaims his love for her he expects full-fledge loyalty from her. Which includes not sleeping with anybody else. When a woman decides to cheat on her man, it's like slapping him in the face with Nicki Minaj's arse. Okay, bad example as he might like that, but you get the point. He can't believe that a woman would do such a thing as take all that love he's given her and throw it at him.

Nevermind that the woman probably did what she did because of some shortcoming the man was exhibiting. By the way, the last sentence does not excuse any cheating. A chick who cheats is still a douche too. But she cheated for a purpose, and those purposes are often lost on men. All we focus on is what you did not why. And frankly, we don't care why. There will never a reason good enough to explain it.

Women, on the other hand, are generally more forgiving creatures and are prone to understanding what happened and why. Women always want to know why and generally, the answer will rarely ever be good enough. Mostly because our answers will generally range from "I don't know" to "It just happened" which can be true answers but don't delve into the feelings behind it all and the real why (which is more like a why mixed with a how). Plus, women tend to believe in the best of us which is why they'll stick it out until they can't.

In this instance, men basically suck. But because I'm a man, I understand. You cheat and I have to go. I never said it makes sense. It is what it is though.

Double standards aren't meant to make sense. They're intended to maintain order amidst chaos. 

Slowing It Down

I have this problem (among many), one that I can't imagine is entirely unique to me. Namely, I sabotage every dating situation I get into where I think I might like the girl. And it's not like I'm doing stupid things either, like being mean, ignoring their advances or being unable to keep my facts straight if I happen to be dating multiple girls at once (though I'll admit, just once I'd like to purposefully mix up my facts, if for no other reason than to gauge the reaction).

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No, I seem to be sabotaging things by being too eager, too anxious. Finding a girl I actually like seems to happen as often as Britney Spears gets touted for her high intelligence quotient, so when I do actually come across someone who holds my interest, can anyone really blame me for getting excited?

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Apparently, the answer is yes. Because every single time, without fail, I end up wanting to see the girl too often, and she ends up bolting for the door. Apparently, I'm still unable to grasp the difference between dating in college and in the real world (not that I actually "dated" in college, but you get my drift). In college, you see your friends, your crushes and your hookups every day. They're almost unavoidable. I still haven't gotten used to the fact that it's OK if you only see someone once a week, or even once every two weeks at the outset of dating. Or maybe I just wish I was back in college. Don't we all?

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The shame of it is, I should totally learn from the myriad of dating situations in which I don't like the girl. In those cases, where quite frankly I couldn't care less if I ever saw the girl again, I act very blase about the whole thing to the point where the apathy is literally oozing out of my pores. Wouldn't you know it... those girls can't get enough of me. It's as if the very notion that I'm simply not interested either never even crosses their minds, or is simply too shocking to the system to be believed. Then again, I'm sure I'm not helping matters by continually acquiescing to their sexual advances.

http://www.google.com.ua/url?q=https://blog.loveawake.com/2019/02/27/how-to-impress-your-girlfriends-family/

Either way, I've never really been able to reconcile the fact that I come off as more attractive to girls when I don't care about them at all. Where's the logic in this? What good can possibly come out of slobbering around like a dog begging to be taken for a walk after someone who's not interested in you? Because it certainly doesn't work the same way in reverse (for me, anyway). Granted, I absolutely enjoy a good chase, but I get the hint when I'm being blown off, and I pick up and move on to the next one (or five). Hell, forget being blown off... I've even been known to move on if I even catch a whiff of disinterest.

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Then again, maybe it's not about reconciliation. Clearly, I'll never fully (or even remotely) understand the female mind, so all I really can do is apply the lessons from what I've observed. And that means tempering my emotions, and perhaps slowing down the dating process to the point where I'm not frothing at the mouth at the expectation of a quality date or getting physical with someone I like (probably a good idea). And despite that I often desire to hit you ladies over the head with the figurative hammer, I also know that at some point in this experiment of trial and error that I like to call dating, some girl out there is going to be wise beyond her years enough to say, "hey... here's a guy I like who actually likes me back. What a novel idea... maybe I should explore this!"

http://www.myelectriccarforums.com/redirect.php?url=https://blog.loveawake.com/2019/02/27/how-to-impress-your-girlfriends-family/

And in the meantime, I can take solace in the fact that there remain plenty of girls out there with whom total apathy is still a viable strategy to keep me busy.

http://gemmedia.mysharebar.com/view?iframe=https://blog.loveawake.com/2019/02/27/how-to-impress-your-girlfriends-family/

https://www.ash.nl/podium/push/Log.aspx?s=401&snd=5977ce84-a1d8-426a-ad95-7c9935fd2848&url=https://blog.loveawake.com/2019/02/27/how-to-impress-your-girlfriends-family/

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What Everyone Should Know About Finding A Mate

Finding a match is a crucial decision. To find a better match it requires good understanding of the people as well as suitability of the opposite person. There are certain things that everybody should know to select his or her better match.

Thanks to technology and the internet, it is now as simple as popping a name into a search engine to find out about them. The internet not only saves time, but can in fact increase the probability of finding yourself the perfect match sooner.

There are many different ways and methods to use while trying to find the perfect mate. There are so many sites out in the world wide web, that your first move should be to find yourself a legitimate dating site.

Once you’ve found a site you like, you must think about what attract you and what you want you ideal lover to be like. Do you want them to have gone to college? What color skin and what beliefs should they have? When you have figured out your preferences and plugged them in, everyone who fits your requirements will be found for you.

You can refer online dating sites any where. The location is not a problem. You can refer national as well as international dating sites as well. Most of the dating sites are looking for adult dating to offer in their services.

Once you have plugged in everything you want in a mate, finding a match is not hard. The only part that requires some looking into on your part is making sure the site you are using is legitimate. To sum up all we have learned here is pretty easy. Find your legitimate dating site and plug in your preferences for the ideal mate. Once the search engine gives you your results, you’ll have to plug in your contact information and begin approaching other singles for dates! Remember to be optimistic!

Who knew how easy it would be to use online dating sates to find that perfect somebody. Picking up protocol is simple and doesn’t change really from one site to the next. Start looking soon so you can bring that special someone home now!

Apparently, everything that was popular in the mid-'90s to early 2000s is coming back, whether we want it to or not.  They're rebooting "Van Helsing", for crying out loud.  So it was really only a matter of time before "The Rules" reared its ugly self-help head.

There are a lot of problems with "The Rules".  First of all, it's less a self-help book and more of a cult, with rules like "Do The Rules, Even when Your Friends and Parents Think It's Nuts", and "Don't Discuss The Rules with Your Therapist".  Uh, yeah, when an accountant and a journalist who don't know what they're talking about (one of the Rules sequels, about marriage, came out while one of the authors was getting divorced) tell you not to discuss a major part of your life with a trained professional, that's generally a warning sign.

Secondly, the demands are just a little creepy.  As a rule, it involves playing hard to get, which might have worked in 1958, but we're in the twenty-first century now, and the standards of behavior are a little different.  It's true you shouldn't be calling a guy you're interested in twenty times a day, but actively avoiding him except during select moments generally sends a wrong message.

Finally, there's this theme of demanding things from your boyfriend/husband and never criticizing anything he does that's...well, again with the cult comparison.  There are rules like "Don't Meet Him Halfway or Go Dutch on a Date" (in other words, make it clear fairly early on you're never going to compromise or help with anything), dumping men who don't give you "romantic" (read: expensive) gifts on a regular basis, and so on.  And you're supposed to "be easy to live with" and "never expect a man to change".  Not that demanding a person become somebody else entirely is a good idea, but notice that in all of this it's the woman bending over backwards.

And now they've got "Not Your Mother's Rules", written by women likely old enough to be your mom, and essentially repackaging their old book with new advice like "Never write on his Facebook wall".

Here's a useful rule: only you know what's right for you.  Think about what you want...and act accordingly.

http://teresa.n-fukushi.ac.jp/mahara/interaction/forum/view.php?id=12 The Single Sibling

http://shigra.net-learning.org/mahara/view/view.php?t=1Z0icUhaofBLdHS7CNYD GPS: It Will Save Your Marriage!

https://mahara.ph-noe.ac.at/view/view.php?t=8qLCoKYQX5wcWSk4lfsI When to Unplug: Consulting User-Generated Review Sites to Plan the Perfect Date

https://www.uitvconnect.com/link/page-notes/137041/584/my-list-theory/tab/1722 My List Theory

http://asik.wiziq.com/course/208474-why-you-can-t-break-up-with-a-drunk-person Why You Can't Break Up With A Drunk Person

http://projects.umwhistory.org/cwh/myomeka/posters/show/4157 Youre So Vain, You Probably Think This Hair Is About You

http://projects.umwhistory.org/cwh/myomeka/posters/show/4158 DON’T FORGET YOURSELF, DON’T SACRIFICE YOURSELF

The Backburner Burn

Often when I start a new relationship I become more insecure than I was when I was single. I worry that this new relationship that seems fulfilling and fun will flop and I will be disappointed. I worry that I won't be as fun anymore when I am a part of a couple. Because of this new found insecurity. I do something bad, and I know a lot of my friends do the same. We keep our backburner suitors, maybe too long. We don't cheat, we just forget to tell them we have a boyfriend. We would be furious, to the point of questioning our new relationship, if our new boyfriend had old chickenheads hanging around. But, in our defense we have no idea where this new relationship is going. We would hate to end these 'friendships' prematurely and have no one to dine and over-wine us out of misery. Plus, we don't want to scare off our new man by being overly committed, (some might find this clingy) right?

Sure we have taken ourselves off the market and we aren't hanging out with our old suitors but a status change hasn't occurred on facebook. No need to tell everyone we are taken. We didn't want to be exclusive with these suitors when we were single and had the chance. But like our old, one size too big, boot-cut jeans, we keep them around just in case the cheese and white wine pounds really start to build up. It's nice to know we have options and won't have to build a new wardrobe of men if things go wrong.

Also, it's comforting. There is a part of life that is more fun when you're single, the part where lots of people want to take you out for drinks and dinner, you can drink too much without anyone telling you that you are embarrassing them and of course you have plenty of time for friends . Flirting is fun (but not totally appropriate when you're in a relationship). If you already have a phone full of people who enjoy your flirting, why cut off communication with them too quickly?

While it's fun and makes you feel good to have these suitors texting you and calling you, you may find yourself dating these second-string sub-par suitors while thinking of your recent ex. It might just be inappropriate to keep these guys around once the commitment has been made. Even if you aren't cheating.

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Verbal Abuse

Just as painful as physical abuse

Domestic abuse does not just consist of physical, it also includes verbal and emotional abuse. At one time or another, many people have been subjected to verbal abuse. Unfortunately, most people don't spot it. You are undergoing verbal abuse if:

• When they say something that hurts you they tell you you're being too sensitive
• Call you names and put you down
• Make you feel bad or guilty
• Hope for you to fail
• Denies your reality
• Is passive aggressive
• Constantly criticizing you
• Explodes at you with anger
• Threatens you
• Constantly orders you around
• Tries to control your life
• Tells you "you're blowing things out of proportion"
• Emotionally blackmails/manipulates you
• Accuses you of doing things you didn't do (such as cheating on them, lying to them, etc.)
• Is extremely jealous

etc. These are all very indicative signs of verbal abuse. I personally was verbally abused by my ex boyfriend and it took 3 months for me to see the signs. I decided to take a break until he treated me better and it didn't work. I read "The Verbally Abusive Relationship" and it really helped me work through the situation and get out of it. Although, don't expect the person to change. If the person feels nothing is wrong limit your contact with them as much as possible. Don't be around someone who puts you down and doesn't appreciate you to the fullest.

My Personal Verbal Abuse Story

I was verbally abused by my father my whole life, but did not recognize it. His hurtful teasing seemed to be "harmless," though many times it made me cry. He'd get mad over little things and yell and intimidate me. But I didn't realize this was abnormal behavior for a long time. That's why almost every man I've been with has been verbally abusive and got away with it. I never spoke up because I didn't think there was a problem. Even though they made me feel bad I knew "they didn't mean it." Then I started dating my ex. Whenever he got mad he said hurtful things, but I just brushed it off because he was angry; again, "didn't mean it." But then I took a class on relationships and they helped me to realize he was verbally abusive, and not just when he was angry. Even when we were getting along he'd say things like, "the gap in your teeth makes you slightly unattractive" and "you could stand to lose one or two pounds/" I told him that he was verbally abusing me and I didn't want to be in the relationship unless he changed. He never changed, but I'm proud of myself for getting out of that situation.

Sources:

https://mahara.phil.hhu.de/view/view.php?t=r0GoXT1y3DaOuMqUtZYw A Little Baggage Goes Nicely with a Little Love

http://teresa.n-fukushi.ac.jp/mahara/group/view.php?id=7 Getting to Know You

http://shigra.net-learning.org/mahara/view/view.php?id=779 How to Get Closure

http://mahara.hu/mahara/group/view.php?id=900 How To Define Marriage Has Changed Over Time

https://mahara.ph-noe.ac.at/user/alla-kiss/top-10-best-movies-for-couples Top 10 Best Movies For Couples

Fighting Foul And Fighting To Win

I don't fight often, it is a fool's game, but I also don't fight fair. Never have, since my first fight way back in Kindergarten. I don't believe in it. The few, very vague flickers of sportsman like behavior I felt got snuffed out in boot, active service and aid work, where "do unto them before they do unto you" is the whole of the law. 

Now, two evenings a week, I teach self-defense classes to predominantly young women, and twice a month to abused women at the local shelter. That gets painful even with the padding. Some of those ladies have a lot of pain to work through, and I get the benefit of their rage.

Not formal martial arts, more street with several dashes of pure violence, nastiness and common sense. So, figured, why not expand my comment on the question and share some tips with you readers this week.

I am gonna be terribly sexist here, and assume your assailant is much stronger than you. If you are stronger, just punch him out and be done with it.

Stay Awake

It isn't fair, but a lot of muggings, assaults and violence can be prevented by simply paying attention to your surroundings. Situational awareness, they call it. Automatically making risk assessments every waking minute of your day. Even simple things, like knowing who is around you, an alternative route and walking past an alley after dark on the curb of the sidewalk rather than in the middle of the sidewalk can give you an extra second to react. 

One of the commoncomplaints about this idea is that you are somehow being asked to "live in fear." To which I say, spherical objects. You are being asked to actually pay attention, roughly the same amount of attention you pay to the road while driving in moderate traffic. That is it.

Being Held is Being Dead

You know how to kill a shark? Stop it moving. It dies. If that applies to the best designed predator on the planet, it certainly applies to you. 

If you can't move, you can't fight. Simple. Someone tries to grab you or hit you, a good 99% of you will flinch back and throw your hands up in front of your face. Well done, you just offered a perfect hold on your wrists, instantly reducing two of your most effective weapons to complete uselessness. Keep one hand free no matter what. If it means taking a hit in the face, so be it.

Volume is Your Friend

You ever watched a bad martial arts movie? Is there any other kind of martial arts movie? One of the things they get right is to scream like an air raid siren who's virtue has been questioned. You should be audible 6 blocks away. It has two advantages. It may, if you are really lucky, call for help, or at least witnesses. It also dumps a gigantic amount of adrenaline into your system, getting you ready and giving you an extra power boost.

Anything is a Weapon

I am not talking concealed carry here. Most people who carry, according to both my cop friends and observation, don't know how to use and can't use if they need to. There is a huge difference between popping a few rounds off at the range and popping a few rounds into someone's body. They just feel invincible, until they get disarmed and shot by their own weapon.

Mace or pepper spray is good, but has to be readily accessible. Someone attacking you is not going to wait patiently while you dig through your purse looking for it.

Martial Arts are great, but you are not in a clean, well lit room with someone who obeys the rules, uses your style and respects the strict timing for bouts.

So lets look at basic force multipliers.

You carry a purse? Satisfy my curiosity, go and weigh it. If it comes in at under 5 pounds I will be shocked. Getting hit in the face with a fear swung 5 lb purse is roughly equivalent to being punched by a middleweight boxer. 

You wearing thin heels? You know you got a pair of bayonets attached to the strongest muscles in your body, right? 

Wearing a coat? Slip it off and hit him in the face with it. If he is grabbing a double handful of coat, he isn't grabbing you. Keep backing away while swinging so he can't use it to pull you to him.

Look around you - you see anything at all you can hit him with? Use it.

The Weak Points

So he's grabbed you anyway. What to do?

We are all the same. Same strengths and same weaknesses too. 

You need to look at five places. Nose, lower lip, crotch, shins and feet. That is where the big pain is. Don't even think about trying for his eyes - it won't work, it'll just get you backhanded into semi conciousness. Ditto with hands. You can put someone in total, paralysing agony by twisting or bending their fingers - if you happen to be stronger than them. So don't try, all you are doing is offering your hands to him.

Nose and lower lip - Grab it, hit it, ram your fingers up the nostrils, twist it. If your hands are held, bite them hard. No guy can keep hold of you if you are hanging from his lip like a bulldog. 

Crotch - fairly obvious and instantly devastating, but for Pete's sake, use your knee, not your foot. Hit a guy hard in the jewels and he will clamp his legs together and fall over hard enough to break your ankle, or at the very least trap you until he recovers. Shins - Turn your foot sideways and rake your instep down his shin. It doesn't sound like much, does it? It hurts and puts him off balance. This one works no matter how you are being held.

Feet - finish your rake on his shins with a damn good stamp on his foot. Bonus points if you are wearing heels here. He'll not be able to chase you well after that. Which leads us to:

Running is not Cowardly

This is something that most women understand, but that has to be beaten (word intentional) into the guys in class. The entire aim of the above is to get you enough space to run and hopefully damaging him enough that he cannot run after you. We are not interested in giving the guy the beating of his life, we want you to get away. You aren't a cop or Paul Kersey, you are a normal person. The instant you get the chance, run like hell. That is your sole aim. 

You. Will. Run.

Sometimes You Lose

You can have more than two assailants at once, though not often outside the cities. If you can drop one of them fast enough, you have the chance to walk away in the confusion - don't run. Normally they are after your money, just throw your purse or wallet at them and run. Cards and cash are replacable. So are skin and bone, but that takes longer.
And sometimes you will lose. You ain't Frank Castle either, and you definitely can't get away with bringing a knife to a gun fight. The standard advice for anyone, male or female, confronted with a gun is to give them what they want. Keep watching for a chance to escape, and spend the time memorising everything about them. The more detail you remember, the more chance the guy will get caught.

So there you are. Some of these points are from my general SD class, the more violent bits from the SD class for victims of domestic assault and violence. They do not make you invulnerable. They do not turn you into a super hero, out to dispense justice. They need a cool head and a little practice to apply properly. If you wanna walk in downtown Detroit at 2 AM after reading this, you will have serious problems of your own devising.

"But how does this post fit with the Empowerment theme?" I hear you ask. Empowered people are not victims. They take responsibility for themselves, including their own safety and security. 
I'd encourage every last one of you to learn a Martial Art anyway, it is both useful and a much more fun way of keeping fit than going to the gym. It also gets you used to hitting people - something many find surprisingly hard to do. Most places offer self defense classes - look em up online or ask at your local police station (they have as much interest in you not becoming a statistic as you have) and take one or two.

And remember:
If you do have to fight, don't half ass it. The fight isn't over until your opponent is on the ground and in too much pain to chase you as you run. There is no such thing as compassion if someone attacks you.