BE OPEN: If you don’t want to climb the Sears tower or eat pickled pigs’ feet, fine. But he does. Maybe his dead wife ate them while scaling the stairs and he now does it to keep a spiritual connection with her. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to accept it as existing.
BE HAPPY: Just as it is best to be kind to everyone you encounter online, it is imperative you are kind to yourself. While staying realistic about who you are is important, presenting yourself in a positive way is imperative. Find one thing good to say about yourself, your job, the rain, the screaming kids and barking dogs next door….
BE CLEAR: While, as Terry Gorsky, relationship guru, suggests, it is not a good idea to tell someone on the first encounter that you are fresh outta prison for embezzlement and used to shoot heroin, you can be truthful enough and specific enough about who you are, what you offer, and what you seek.
BE CAREFUL: Meet in public. Call a friend with the person’s license plate number or a check-in and a bit of info. Protect and empower yourself.
So. With hundreds of thousands of us forgoing the bars and accepting the virtual meet and greet of dating services (online or off), the best advice on how to BE of all is what I learned years ago: Be the person you want to be with. And she or he will want to be with you!
