If you find yourself in a position at 50+ with the love of your life lost; however that may be, you can often begin to feel lost yourself and lose sight of what’s important in life – happiness.
Here are 10 tips to dating or finding a companion to build and share the rest of your life with;
Don’t search for Mr/Mrs Right – Let it happen naturally. If you have suffered a relationship breakdown later on in life, the thought of starting over and finding a partner might bring you out in hives.
Don’t panic and initiate a relationship with the window cleaner just because he said “you look well”. You may not have found ‘the one’ or it just didn’t work out with ‘the one’, but I do believe everything happens for a reason and there is someone for everyone. Your paths just may not have crossed yet.
Decide what you want – short term, long term, partner, marriage, companion or friend. Don’t think about what society says you should have, think about yourself and what will make you happy.
Get yourself out there – you won’t find the potential next love of your life sitting at home feeling sorry for yourself. Be tough on yourself and force yourself to go out, see friends and have some fun.
No comparisons – once you do start dating someone, don’t compare him/her to your previous partner. Go in with a clear and open mindset and just see what happens.
Get out of your comfort zone – try dating someone who normally isn’t your type, you may discover you’ve been searching for the wrong thing all this time.
Don’t make excuses – it can be easy to talk yourself out of a first date or even blind date but just go for it and don’t build it up in your head. It’s dinner and conversation, both things you’ve spent your life doing.
Ask for help – If you're recently divorced, you may have family or friends trying to set you up with people they know. Or you may feel like you want to ask them for advice or guidance. Both of the above are good to do as well as trying online dating services. Get a friend to help you set up an online profile.
Try a new approach – join a local club, try a new hobby or go somewhere new for coffee. If you don’t find anyone there you have lost nothing.
There are plenty more fish in the sea – What ever age you are there are other people in the same boat, looking for the same things you are.
No pressure – You're not searching for life on Mars, your looking for a date, if something more develops, even better. So go out, meet new people and have fun! Life starts at 50.