I’ve been dating for almost three years now, and it has been quite a ride. But I learned what I needed to and it’s almost worse than I thought it would be. It’s certainly different than what I remember. This is what I’ve learned:
Men in their thirties are FAR from ready to settle down in any capacity, I mean just even a relationship committed to one person. They are very immature and unsettled at this stage still. I think the rate at which men mature has increased whereas it used to be thirty was when they started thinking about making life commitments and growing up, it’s more like forty now (and even then…seriously).
They want open relationships, often still live with their parents or have roommates. They are still trying to “find” themselves, jumping around careers, travelling, living nomadic lifestyles, want “adrenaline and adventure.” They aren’t here to make you feel safe and loved; they are here to live life like they want and only how they want, and if you want a tiny slice of that on his terms then please feel free to tag along.
Men in their forties…they also don’t want relationships for the most part because they’ve just come out relationships (marriages mostly) and are in an exploratory phase now, where they want to try all kinds of new sexual things they couldn’t before with their wives (group sex, kinkier sex, sex clubs, swapping–you name it). They are “busy” with their kids and, oh, of course going to the cottage or away for the weekend so they aren’t ever around. But, hey, if you can meet up – where he lives, which is par for the course with most men it seems – then he’s happy to have you buy yourself a drink and then go back to his place for a quick night of mediocre sex, at best. He might say he wants a relationship, but then he backs out of it because he really just wants to sample the twenty-something goods lounging around dating sites.
So maybe it’s when we’re all fifty that we can circle back and decide to have mature, mutually beneficial, loving relationships. Or maybe not. Maybe all people want today is random, meaningless, commitment-less, flaky, when-I-want-you-only “relationships.”
Of course, this is not how all men are. But it’s a pretty good representation of what’s going on out there. So manage your expectations, ladies, and keep waiting for whatever it is you want. But if you want casual, my oh my, it’s a casual buffet out there, so eat it up and have fun. xoxoxo
Flirting With Perception 