Are You Ready to Start Dating Again?

Dating can be intimidating at any age. But dating after the end of a long term relationship, dating when you are middle aged - that's tough! How do you know if you're ready?  There are a few questions you can ask yourself to get an idea of where you stand and to better gauge if you truly are ready to get back into the game.

Transcript:

Hello, my name is Tiffany, and welcome to the podcast Working on Amazing.

This is a podcast where we talk about the work that it takes to rebuild an amazing life.

And I'm using that word rebuild because we're specifically designed for women who feel like they're starting over in the middle of their life.

A few different things could lead you to feel like that place where it feels like you're starting over.

For me, that was divorce after a 20-year marriage.

For my sister, it was the unexpected death of her spouse.

While those two things are very different, the common thing is that all my plans, all my hopes, my entire vision for my future, my dreams all went up in smoke.

My future was no longer going to look the way that I thought it would.

And I had to start over.

That is a very overwhelming, very itchy feeling.

And if that's you, I want to say I'm sorry.

I know what that feels like.

But I also know that it gets better, that there is a way to the other side, and you have the opportunity to rebuild an amazing life.

You truly do.

I've gone through it and come out on the other side better for it, and I know so many women who have.

You are not alone.

You're actually in the right place.

So welcome, welcome.

I'm so, so glad you're here.

Let's get down to today's episode.

Today, we're gonna talk about dating.

And specifically, when are you ready to start dating again?

So if you've been in a significant relationship, I was married for 20 years, my sister was married, her spouse passed away.

How do you know when you're ready to start dating?

Like, as soon as I got divorced, I knew I was not ready.

It's this thing, like, I don't want to dip my toe in that water and then get in a relationship and go, whoa, too soon, got to back off.

How do you know that you're ready?

So let's talk about it.

Let's talk about some things.

Now, before we get in to some questions to ask yourself if you're ready to start dating, I want to say, if you don't want to date, that is okay.

If you've gone through a divorce, if you've gone through the death of a spouse, and you're just like, no, I don't want to be in another relationship.

That is not something I want.

I'm here to tell you, that's a totally valid choice, and I support you in that.

I wanted companionship, and I think there are a lot of people who do, so either way is okay.

But I knew I wanted to share my life with somebody.

I'm a people person.

I want to be around people.

I need to talk to people.

So I knew that I wanted a relationship.

But like I said, I was very unsure about if I was ready to cross that bridge again, if I was ready to start that.

So let's talk about how do you know if you're ready?

And this by no means is a definitive list, but I'm going to give you four things to ask yourself that may help you gauge whether you're ready to start dating again, like get back out there.

And it's intimidating.

It was not fun.

I don't feel like when I was 20 and in my late teens and in college, I never really loved dating that much.

Like that just wasn't my thing.

I think there are girls that truly do enjoy it.

But then it was so intimidating to start dating in my 40s.

Like that just felt so weird and uncomfortable.

So if I w