For those of us in our thirties, dating can be stressful and sucky for the most part. Guys and girls post old photos on online dating sites, they lie about age, height, etc. They are harder to meet, unless you go to bars, events, etc. on a regular basis. There is a lot more effort involved than people like to admit. Still, there are moments when dating feels worth the trouble. The possibility of meeting someone new keeps people trying.

Dating can also be thrilling when you meet someone who sparks your interest, where you feel that instant chemistry. Maybe they will call you or text you, maybe they won’t, but the anticipation is worth it. Love seems possible. That feeling can make even an ordinary evening seem exciting. It reminds you why people put up with all the nonsense in the first place. After I spoke with some teenagers about love this past weekend though, you’d think it was an endangered species.

I was just curious about how they viewed dating. “Kelly, nobody dates anymore,” they said. Apparently, they just FB each other that they wanna hang sometime in the near future. Then eventually, if they happen to respond to each other’s texts or messages, they might find themselves together in a coffee shop. There is no clear conversation about what anything means. It all seems to happen in fragments. When I was in high school, dating was something people wanted.

Dating someone who was hotter or more popular than you were was the goal. Now, there seems to be this status thing with teenagers to be permanently single and go from girl to girl or guy to guy. Since I talked in my last post about the world of dating getting murkier, it scares me that a whole new generation is growing up without those rites of passage. Still, I believe in love and relationships, even when they are messy. Even with all the hurt that comes with them, they are still so worth it.