These are my thoughts on dating (written by Jeff as a mid-single in 2013):
Dating is far easier in my 40s than it was in my 20s. (If you married in your 20s and have remained married, chances are that you are scratching your head.) I am far more comfortable in my own skin now. I long ago abandoned the need to save face or to alter who I am to please someone else. I no longer need the validation of being liked back by everyone that I like. I no longer care what anyone else thinks of the women I date or, ultimately, who I choose to marry. They will not have to live with the decision--at least not every day as I will. If I choose to love you, it is because I truly feel that way, and not because a committee of people I have the need to please has approved you. It is liberating to love for my own reasons and on my own terms. Having said all of this, though, I hasten to add that 20 more years does not make it any less painful to get my heart broken when a relationship ends. I approach relationships at this stage of life with much more confidence and less fear. But I am just as capable of getting hurt as ever. I think that means that I am still alive, still human, and still capable of deep love.
