Dating
Long ago, Jane Austen wrote about the ways men would use to impress a young lady he was interested in. It was a long and sometimes arduous process trying to impress the said lady, and I am sure many gentlemen would have wished it were a tad bit easier to win over the lady. That is what was considered ‘dating’ in the old (ok, very old) days. As civilizations evolved with time, so did the outlook to dating, and then it became common for a man to get to know the girl initially and then meet her family. That does seem a logical way to go, as in the long run it is both of them who have to spend all the time together. The first date is generally when both would go out for a meal (most often dinner) and talk about each other’s lives and try to see if it they could handle meeting up again. And so the more recent version of dating came to be.
Dating is a fascinating process. It is the time when both parties involved are trying to understand the other person, and so are on their best behavior at all times. They do not want to show the less-than-perfect side of things and so are always trying to impress the other party and make sure that person realizes how lucky they are to have them in their lives. It is after all the time when two people decide if the other person has the potential to be in their lives for… well forever to look at it in a bit of a corny light!. Dating is also when confusion reigns as one of the more prevalent emotions, along with a certain degree of happiness, self-importance (here is someone who thinks what you say is significant) and maybe, for the lucky ones, the initial stages of love.
Going on dates are pretty dependable ways of finding out if you can stay together with the person for a long time without wanting to run away, or God forbid, kill them!. Dating is also an enjoyable time for most as there is a lot of mutual attraction, flirting and both generally enjoy the other person’s company. If, after going through the dating process, either or both of those involved feel like they would not be able to have a long-term relationship, they end the relationship then and there, which bring us to another good thing about dating – unless really serious, it can be a totally no-strings-attached approach, which significantly reduces the pressure for both, at least at the beginning.