A Converse commercial with Dwyane Wade ends with the phrase “Fall seven times. Stand up eight.” The message, always get back up, regardless of how many times you fall down. This week was one of my worse weeks ever. I could have easily curled into the corner in the fetal position and cry; instead I decided to pull myself up from the floor and try again. My week could have been worse and while life has knocked me down, and I compounded the issues by making some mistakes, I’ve survived and still standing. Instead of moping, I’ve dusted myself off, turned these issues into learning lessons, got back up and tried again last night. It managed to be a successful evening; I may have fallen down, but I got right back up.
Edward Thomas (@URWingman) mentioned in the past, success in dating requires stepping up to the plate. This includes learning from failures, and standing back up to face them head on. When we succeed, we often ignore the mistakes made because of our success, however when we fall, we’re forced to learn the lessons that will force us to make improvements. We learn how to handle situations that may have frustrated us in the past. Dating is a rough, vicious, world, and we are going to make mistakes, we’re going to be ridiculed, and there will be plenty of frustrations. Learning how to manage them turn us from frustrated average chumps, to successful daters, seeking our end goal.
No one ever tells us there will be failures when we date. We’re softly cradled throughout the process by our friends, experts and people helping us with our dating lifestyle. It’s what we need to become comfortable and confident in our ability to date. When a rough patch happens, it seems like the hard work, time, and money invested in improving ourselves is for naught. It’s just an opportunity to re-evaluate our position, test our resolve, and try again.
The reason this is important? If the point of dating is to end up in a relationship, then maintaining a relationship is harder than dating. You’re more likely to fall often in a relationship than on a date.
Image Credit: Ville Miettinen on Flickr
#1 by Amy on December 13, 2009 - 8:58 pm
Bravo! You’re in inspiration. I got stood up on a blind date this morning, of all humiliating single-person things to happen, so I hear ya. I applaud you for getting out there and giving dating a chance. I prefer to stay home, so when I do finally venture out and then get shot down, it makes me want to flee even faster. I’ll try to take your advice, though…thanks for it and your honesty on your blog.
#2 by GlamourGirl on December 13, 2009 - 9:17 pm
Love this post. Dating has its ups and downs and it depends on what you learn from and do with the downs that help get you up.
#3 by Fish on December 14, 2009 - 11:42 am
I’m going to read this post next time a girl tells me there was just no chemistry.