The Dating Dope

It’s no secret that maintaining a long-distance relationship requires a huge amount of work and dedication. Whether it’s the result of deployment, relocation or an online romance, being separated from one another can be the most difficult things a couple ever goes through. Here are some tips to help make the separation more bearable.

Stay Positive – Fight the temptation to hunker down with an MP3 player full of sad songs and a bottle of wine. Instead, try to concentrate on the positive aspects of your relationship.

Focus On Future Plans – When the pressure of being separated gets to be a bit too much, it helps to focus on the future. Whether it’s the next meeting or the big picture, thinking about what you’re working towards and waiting for can make it all seem worthwhile.

Get Out of the House – Go out. Go to the park or a museum, out for a walk or to dinner with friends. Doing something fun will keep your mind off the separation and will give you something to talk about the next time you’re on the phone.

Get a Hobby – All too often, adults let hobbies and pastimes fall to the wayside in the tedium of work and day to day responsibilities. Recapturing the joy of a hobby can be a great way to relieve stress from many aspects of your life, not to mention offer an enjoyable distraction for the times when talking to your guy just isn’t feasible.

Cultivate Your Own Interests – It’s so easy to be influenced by the likes and dislikes of a significant other that sometimes we lose sight of our own interests. Even if it’s as simple as watching a movie that your honey wouldn’t have much desire to see, using the time apart as a way to keep your own interests alive can make the separation seem shorter.

Trust Him – Trust can be an issue in any relationship, but it’s definitely compounded when there are miles between you. Making an effort to maintain trust in your relationship is arguably the most important aspect of keeping a long-distance relationship strong; there’s no question that it makes those long nights alone easier to bear.

Be Realistic About Communication – There are going to be days when even a short conversation simply isn’t feasible, especially if you’re in different time zones. Having rigid expectations about how often you speak can put a huge amount of pressure on your relationship. Instead, try to look at every conversation as a pleasant surprise.

Invest in a Web Cam – Sometimes a telephone just isn’t enough, even if the conversation lasts for hours. Being able to see your sweetie will do wonders for your morale, so a web cam might be the most powerful weapon at your disposal.

Start an Exercise Regimen – Exercise releases mood-boosting endorphins and fosters an all-around feeling of well being, so building a workout routine might be another way to combat the stress of separation.

Form a Support System – Even having just one friend that can identify with your situation can go a long way. Your friends are vitally important, and can help keep you grounded.

Though it can sometimes feel like it will never end, remember that the separation won’t last forever. Staying as optimistic as possible and keeping the end goal in sight will help, as will having a clear plan for the future. Though it may be difficult, try to treasure the time you have to yourself and avoid worrying about things that can’t be changed immediately.

More Dating Articles like this available at Best Dating Sites.

Meeting a date’s dad for the first time can be a very stressful event for teenagers. Listed below I have included ten tips for teens before meeting their date’s dad; that will work for both guys and girls.

Clean Up. First impressions are everything to a dad. Before you meet him, make sure that your appearance is neat, clean and well groomed. If you come in looking scruffy, he is sure to make a bad judgment from that. Dress conservative, but proper for the event.
Turn Off Your Phone. If you are going to meet your date’s dad, you really should be turning off your phone. The last thing he wants to see is how fast you can text. Also, if it is turned off you will be less likely to get tempted to answer or look at it during your meeting.
Do Your Homework. Find out a little about your date’s dad prior to meeting him for the first time. Then you will have time to learn more about the subjects he is interest in, and can strike up a conversation that appeals him.
Research the Past. Find out from your date what their dad thought of his/her past boyfriends/girlfriends. This will give you a chance to gauge how he will treat you, and what to expect when meeting for the first time.
Prepare for Grilling. Just like you would do for a job interview, think of questions that may come up. Be prepared to answer awkward questions and have a prepped response for anything you are not comfortable talking about.
Find Out if He Has Allergies. The last thing you want to do, when walking in to meet your date’s dad, is set him off on an allergic reaction. If he has an allergy to dogs, make sure you stay away from Rover before going to meet him.
Be On Time. Nothing says slacker more than someone who is running late. You want to impress the dad with promptness, not repel him by making him wait.
Avoid Disagreements. You can quickly turn off your date’s dad by arguing, criticizing or embarrassing your date. While you should always treat your date with respect, this is the time to be on your very best behavior.
Humor. You will definitely want to show your date’s dad that you have a sense of humor. However, this is not the time to make political, religious, or off color, rude jokes. Keep your remarks clean and tasteful.
Do Not Complain. This is not the time to complain about all the things that bother you about your date. He is after all, the dad, and probably already knows all his child’s faults. If you complain about your date’s behavior in any way, you are essentially telling his/her dad that they did a bad job raising their child.

The biggest things to remember when meeting your date’s dad is; be prepared, be on your best behavior, and most of all, do not, I repeat, do not mention any of your previous dates!

Article courtesy Best Dating Sites

Many things can damage a relationship but few are more lethal than broken trust. If you’ve broken your partner’s trust in a moment of foolishness, how do you go about winning it back?

Rena from Denver, CO writes:
I got mad and made a threat to this guy I was dating. I know this makes me look bad, but things just happened between us and before I knew it we were dating. I threatened to tell his family about us when we got in a fight one day. I’m a very temperamental person and I keep escalating the situation until it blows up in my face. now he wont talk to me at all. He said that once I made the threat he shut me out. I really like this guy and I realize I have anger problems and I work hard to resolve them. but he doesn’t understand this his lack of communication led to me being angry in the first place. I’ve apologized many times, I don’t know what else to do. Is there anything else I can do?

I do think this situation is resolvable, but it’s going to take you reaching out to him first. I know he isn’t talking to you for the moment, which is tough on its own to fix. Have you tried reaching him through a mutual friend? That can be a good approach since not only will it get your message delivered, but it will also give him the benefit of the mutual friend’s good opinion of you. If that doesn’t work, I’d suggest a hand-written letter since that that shows effort and also tends to catch a person off-guard; people seldom receive hand-written letters anymore and there’s a good chance if he gets one from you he’ll read the contents. Just don’t deliver it to his house—make sure to send it to the office, or even walk up to him in person and hand it to him yourself.

I don’t think the reason that he shut you out is your anger so much as the breach of trust you created when you threatened him. I understand that you are frustrated with his situation with his family and want him to make a decision sooner or later about who he really wants to be with. These things do take time though; this is a major life change, and it is important for him to have the chance to tell his family his decision in his own way. The way in which he tells them could determine how he feels about that choice for the rest of his life. If he chooses to be with you but the way in which his family finds out is destructive, he may regret his choice, even if it was the “right” one. What you’re dealing with is hopefully the protective urge that caused him to start a family in the first place and not shame. That’s a good trait. If he finds a constructive way to tell them about you (especially if children are involved), then there will be fewer emotional scars all around, including for you.

That being said, how do you win back his trust? My suggestion is to give him some collateral. If you trust him, then think of something you don’t want anyone to know about you, something of equal proportion if you can, and tell him that thing. That way you’ll be standing on equal ground. If he feels that you no longer have the advantage on him, and sees that you are willing to trust him with something sensitive, then he may finally feel ready to open up to you again. Let him know that you are very sorry for breaking his trust (not just for your anger management issues), and that you understand the importance of him being able to choose the way in which he communicates his choice to his family. But don’t let him put it off forever—figure out how long you’re willing to wait on him and explain that you are looking for more communication, and that you need him to make up his mind. You deserve to be treated with fairness and respect in this situation, just as he does, and that will need to come from him as much as from you. Let us know how things work out.