I recently mentioned to someone my need to start dating again, and the ensuing discussion of how much of “need” it really was got me thinking. I certainly don’t want to date a bunch of strangers; I’d much rather put the effort into one rewarding, lasting relationship. But dating is a necessary step to find the right person to build that relationship, so I trudge through dating sites, speed dating, and the too rare real life encounters with eligible women.
For a long time, I was single and happy. My own intellectual and physical pursuits filled my time comfortably. While I became a more rounded person, I watched more of my peers get married, despite studies showing people marry at a later average age today. The clock was ticking, and the pool of women draining. Since I’m planning to have a family, you can add a biological clock to that ticking as the window for ideal pregnancy is shrunken by today’s increasingly school and work oriented women. (See Babies and Life on Demand)
I need to date because it’s the gateway to a relationship, marriage, and a family. And I need to do it now because a number of clocks are ticking.
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