The Gray Zone: Where Confusion Meets Frustration
How many times have you thought to yourself, “why is dating so hard?” We all have thought it. Hell, I started a blog off that simple question. Yet, how do we answer it – why is it so dang hard?
Some argue, that it’s impossible to meet anyone organically nowadays. Dating apps where men have their height listed, and women have their ass shots posted. There’s no secret as to what you’re getting – probably catfished. We all have to be so perfect on paper that we hold our breath hoping someone likes us in person. Only to be ghosted.
We forget that we’re all going to turn gray and old someday. That what matters happens on the inside. That beauty grows from within. Laughter and friendship are things that stay much longer than beauty and smoothed skin.
Some might say it’s the game we’re all playing. Nobody is calling each other out and holding one another accountable for being a complete jerk. Nobody questions being ignored for days at a time, and if you do, you’re ‘crazy’. We all pretend like we don’t care, we hold our ‘pride’ up and move forward. Because being ‘crazy’ is more terrifying than being treated correctly.
Maybe it’s how comfortable society has become with cheating, doesn’t it happen to everyone one time or another? Shouldn’t we just be grateful that our partner is sorry? Chivalry is dead anyways. Turning a blind eye on it once is OK right?
This is where all the lines get blurred and confusion overlaps with frustration. Where we wonder how in the world dating got to be so difficult. We’re letting it happen as a whole. We contribute to it all. We stopped loving ourselves along the way to finding love. We forget hard work, natural bodies, and regular jobs are what’s real. That love isn’t always so pretty. That after all the flower petals have fallen, thorns are left. Yet, with a little time, water, and sunshine things grow again. We all have a heartache, no you’re not special for once being broken. Stop treating each other as if we all don’t understand what pain looks like. We all have a story to tell.
You’re not alone in this crazy madness we call dating. For a long time, that’s exactly what I thought. I had no idea we were all on this same crazy path searching for love. Open your eyes and heart to who you are, and question what you’re putting up with. Stop settling for less. We can only allow others to love us, as much as we love ourselves.
Lesson Learned: Let love in for yourself like sunshine, and the clouds will move away all on their own.
