Seek and ye shall find

In recent weeks, my neighbor and I have found ourselves engrossed in intense and reflective discussions—not about the profound meaning of life but rather in an endless dialogue about the intricacies of being single. As our pub escapades continued, we consistently found ourselves navigating waters somewhere between self-pity and disdain toward those who fail to recognize our true worth.

… and then, we listen!

Since our last pub crawl on the weekend, an overwhelming plethora of ‘advice’ has erupted from quite unexpected fountains. First, there was Johanne Burkhardt in her Breakfast Talk Show in SWR2 Radio this morning. Johanna attacked being single from the perspective of whether we even truly need a partner. Then, at Uni, in one of our classes, we dissected Dan Harris’ TED Talk on Not being a jerk to yourself. Finally, the Rev. Priest—of all people— had to sing his verse as well on finding true love.

In the end, all of these trusted sources seem to be preaching a never-ending lesson on seeking, yes, but first reflecting. We have to start by taking a step back and doing an “r3“: reThink. reLate. reAct. In other words, we can seek all we want; if we don’t know what we’re looking for, we’ll never find any treasure worth keeping. Additionally, we’ve got to be good to ourselves. We’ve got to start with pure intentions and desires; otherwise, we will never attract the right person.