Just A Date: That Heady Ol’ Feeling

I spoke to a friend last night. She said she was going out to dinner. Not family. Not an old friend. Not a classmate or a colleague. Not a ‘marriage prospect’. None of those secure, timetable-managed things. But something quite like…a date! What a feeling!

I had another call at 11:00 pm. She sounded ecstatic. She hasn’t sounded this way in oh….5 years. All for what? A simple dinner with someone new, whom she liked. It was one memorable experience in five years of good grades, promotions, splendid matrimonial prospects, and family joys. But this one dinner stood out.

I’m glad she’s stumbled onto that heady feeling again. And I’m so glad, so thankful for being well acquainted with it, feeling this all of this year. Dating is good. Finding someone attractive, discovering that they might just feel that way too, pondering and plotting over how to talk to them (or answer them when they talk to you), the apprehension coupled with gleeful delight…..it makes me feel young and alive! Even when one isn’t sure of the outcome.

Will this date be enjoyable? Will she like me? Will I bore him? Do we have a lot in common? Do we conflict or complement each other? How can I meet him again? Shall I ask her for her number? Will I seem too pushy? Too eager? Too cold?

Oh perhaps, the uncertainty is the charm of it all.

Finding someone you like isn’t easy but that makes it all the more of a thrill when you do. Getting to know them, the childish-but-nevertheless enjoyable little games that one plays, the flirting…it is all good. Well, who am I to dictate the morals of the age? I say anything that makes you feel good, is good.

So this one time, I’ll shed off my cynical cloak. There are 6 billion people out there (and more coming in every minute!). It’s just possible you may like someone (a lot of someones…). Strange as it may sound, a lot of them like you too. Get out there, talk to someone, have a conversation, make a date, go out to dinner, catch a movie, meet some friends, discover how much you have in common, how much you can learn from each other, have fun…..life is here for the taking! It’s a date.