Dating Maze

There’s hardly a month that goes by that I don’t hear from one of my girlfriends who are trying to figure out what is going on with the man that they are dating. The older we get the more it becomes clear that we might be running out of time to have our happily ever after fulfilled. Dating can be exhausting emotionally. I don’t know that it is so much for men, but I think as women we are always trying to figure out what is going on. Yes, I realize that maybe that could be the problem. It is possible that we should just go with the flow, but for how long and why get involved with someone if eventually it’s just going to end badly? I guess we ladies try to figure out anything from does this guy even like me to how many red flags do I ignore before I realize that this is not the guy for me? I very seldom hear of people that are in great relationships. Most of the time when you ask you get the standard answer that things are good or fine or ok. Then sometimes you get the cold, hard truth that things are just not good. I did ask a friend recently how things were going with the guy she was dating and she answered with an enthusiastic “he rocks my world” and this wasn’t a new relationship where they are still in the honey moon stage. I was happy for her and honestly just a tad bit jealous. I wondered what does a great relationship even look like. Would I recognize it if came up and tried to sweep me off my feet? I often question if anybody in a dating relationship is happy? Yet, what are the other options? Why does the thought of being alone seem like a worse option than being in a bad relationship? I did a personality survey once that said I was a lucky person. I could be happy with someone or I could be happy alone. It said I enjoyed my own company. I found that funny and almost even arrogant in a way. Yet, maybe that does make me lucky. It tells me that I don’t have to settle in relationships and it also tells me that dying alone is not the worse thing in the world that could happen to me. Then there are all of my married friends who say how they are so glad they don’t have to date anymore. So, if dating is so bad then why do we continue to put ourselves through this torture? There are no promised happy endings, or rings or white dresses. There may not even be a second phone call. Is dying alone the worst thing in life that can happen? Is having a hundred cats to keep you company in your old age really that bad? If dating makes us feel like a lost, dizzy mouse in one of those mazes then why do we continue to try to find the cheese?