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The 10 Commandments of Online Dating

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Finding the right romantic partner often seems like looking for piece of hay in a large stack of needles: a painful process with somewhat disappointing rewards. Online dating eliminates the need to get dressed up, musked up and out there – but that doesn’t mean there isn’t etiquette to follow. Just like in the real world you’ll need to come across as charming, polite and desirable, and just like in the real world a little bit of knowledge can make the process a whole lot easier. So today we’ll show you ten fundamentals every online dater should take as gospel.

1. Thou Shalt Stand Out From The Crowd

A catchy title and some more unusual interests can go a long way. Spend a few minutes coming up with a decent profile that shows you as witty and unique instead of joining the legions who give as their only interests ‘TV, music and film’. Surely you can’t be that boring? Be careful though, being too alternative may come across as weird and limit your pool of potential partners.

Mr. Right: ‘When I’m not flying my helicopter or giving guided tours of the Vatican, I like to go off-piste skiing – but I always try to make time for my charity work in Patagonia.’

Mr. Wrong: ‘I like watching TV. I also like lifting up rocks to look at the insects underneath.’

2. Thou Shalt Not Display Thy Baggage
A lot of online daters have baggage from their past – this may be anything from kids to a psycho-ex who stalks them, or perhaps even a full sex change. Don’t put off potential suitors by placing this baggage in full view of everyone: give people a chance to get to know you before you let them decide whether the fact you only have four toes on one foot is an obstacle to love.

Mr. Right: ‘I’m open minded middle-age man hoping to meet someone similar.’

Mr. Wrong: ‘Please ignore my ex who will leave road kill on your doorstep and vandalise your car if you date me. By the way I have a glass eye.’

3. Thou Shalt Post A Photo That Honours Thy True Appearance.
We all do it: posing for photos and then selecting the ones that show us in our best light – and there’s nothing wrong with it. However, if you’re photoshopping your image before posting it or even using an image of someone else, you’ve definitely crossed the line.

Mr. Right: ‘I think I look pretty good in this one.’

Mr. Wrong: ‘Brad Pitt from a weird angle – she’ll never know.’

4. Thou Shalt Be Fully Proactive
There are plenty of potential partners out there waiting for you, but just like in real life competition is stiff. To maximise you chances target as many people as possible and try not to get hung-up on that one girl who used to be a playboy bunny – every other man on the site will have messaged her too. By the same token (and this applies mainly to women) always respond to interest, even if you don’t like him – it’s only polite.

Mr. Right: ‘I love you. And you. And you. And you…’

Mr. Wrong: ‘If you won’t marry me in the next ten minutes, I’m going to end it all.’

5. Thou Shalt Always Be Realistic
Messaging a glamour model whose interests include opera and fine dining and last whose boyfriend was the heir to the crown of Luxembourg? By all means give it a shot, but remember the aim of online dating is to set up a real face-to-face date – and if she doesn’t like your face when you turn up, you’ll be in for an embarrassing brush off. Normal rules of dating apply: go for those who are realistic and whom you feel you’ll genuinely click with.

Mr. Right: ‘I don’t have a private plane or a yacht, but if love was worth money I’d be a millionaire.’

Mr. Wrong: ‘Usually I date ugly girls but I thought I’d move up a level.’
6. Thou Shalt Not Be Blatant

If we’re honest, sexual satisfaction is right up there in terms of why people want to get married, yet just like in the real world, nothing gives a worse impression than admitting this situation, whether directly or indirectly: at best you’ll appear desperate, at worse a twisted sexual maniac. So be casual. Try to covertly steer conversation towards the more risque end of the spectrum, but never be obvious about it. Just because you’d be delighted if a stranger on a bus asked you about your deepest fantasies, not everyone else would.

Mr. Right: ‘I really like curling up with a good book and a hot water bottle, it’s even better when there’s a beautiful girl lying next to you…’

Mr. Wrong: ‘No sexual act is too foul or depraved for me. I’ll do literally anything’.
7. Thou Shalt Be Honest At All Times
This goes hand-in-hand with being realistic. By all means make the most of what you’ve got, jazz yourself up and inject a bit of spice into your CV – but don’t outright lie. Hopefully you’ll be meeting them in the not too distant future so claiming to be a 6′ 3″ bodybuilder, with a pilot’s licence and a wardrobe full of designer clothes will definitely backfire if you’re not a 6’ 3″ bodybuilder with a…

Mr. Right: ‘I’ve been told I have rugged good looks, but if I’m honest I’m looking for someone I can connect with emotionally as well as physically.’

Mr. Wrong: ‘I’m definitely not just looking for sex… what cup size did you say you were?’

8. Thou Shalt Be Witty And Concise

Avoid writing a novel when messaging a potential partner. Keep you messages short and sweet – this will encourage you to make the most of the words you do communicate, hopefully making you appear deeper and more witty. This also has the added benefit of giving you a certain mystique: as you should know, a large part of attraction is what is unsaid, so be suggestive and leave them hanging on.

Mr. Right: ‘I’m leaving for Paris early tomorrow so I’ll say goodnight. Wish you were here to tuck me in…’

Mr. Wrong: ‘…and then I went to the shop and said to the woman, do you have these in a size 10, and she said to me no, so I said why not, and she said to me she didn’t know, so I said do you have these in a size 11….’

9. Thou Shalt Always Stay Safe

It almost goes without saying, never arrange to meet anyone you don’t fully trust. If this means taking it slow and getting to know each other through email and phone conversations, than so be it. Your safety is of paramount concern, unless of course you want an episode of CSI to be based on your sorry little story.

Mr. Right: ‘I’m fine going at whatever speed your comfortable with.’

Mr. Wrong: ‘Meet me at the deserted warehouse at midnight.’

10. Thou Shalt Always Remember That The Online Dating World Is Only An Extension Of The Real World – Not Some Magical Kingdom Of Dreams
As long as you remember that online dating won’t necessarily introduce you to the man/woman of your dreams and that even if it did, you might not live happily ever after and even if you do, you’ll always have to live with the fact you met on the internet… than you’ll have a great time.

Mr. Right: ‘Behind the profile is a real man who feels and cares.’

Mr. Wrong: ‘With the click of a button we’ll all live happily ever after.’
** This article was written by Tom Davie, a student at Cambridge University.

MARRIAGE, WHAT HAS AGE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Leave a Comment / Articles / By intimatesolution

WHAT HAS AGE GOT TO DO WITH THIS?
Age is one of the factor that need to be considered when choosing a life partners especially in this part of the world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the success of such relationship depends on age factor. If we say age is just a number , we wont be far from the truth and if we also says it matters, its not false as well. Research show that women who marrieds men who are a little bit older than them enjoy more tolerance, understanding and affection from such men, even though this might not be in all cases. Success in marriage depends largely on the level of understanding between couples as well as compatibility, Even if the wife is younger and there’s no understanding, that marriage might crash.

Just like i stated earlier, significantly older men tends to be more tolerance and could be more possessive sometimes as well. One cannot state the benefits and disadvantages categorically, but these few are trends that are common to such relationships/marriage:

Older men tends to be more tolerance and caring
Older men tend to be more possessive
Most time older women are more financially stable
Its difficult to command the needed respect to boost a man’s ego from an older woman in most cases.
There will be serious hurdles to cross in form of friends and family interference.

Marrying someone with significant age differences shouldn’t be a big deal, at least its not in the developed world, but the fact remains that African has not developed to that level, a lot of people will frown at it and mount pressure that might start choking the relationship/marriage.

To enter into this kind of relationship/marriage, there are few questions one should ask:

What is the motive? Are you entering that relationship because you are in love and will like to spend the resort of your life with that man/woman or you are doing it for material gain. If the motive is wrong the marriage will not survive. If the foundation be destroyed, what can anyone do?
Are you ready to live with the consequences of your action? If you find yourself in a function where your friends spouses are almost their age, will you still be happy to flaunt your partner without feeling ashamed. You must be ready to stand by your decisions and see your choice as the best irrespective of what anyone thinks or says, if not there will be crises.
Culturally or religiously speaking, the man remains the head of the family and not the other way round, as a woman, if you are dating or marrying a younger man, are you willing to respect him irrespective?

When it comes to the issue of ideal age gap between partners, there’s no one size fits all, or one age fits all. What works for couple A might not work for couple B, in as much as there is understanding and compatibility age remains a factor. But one should also consider the number of years especially when the older is a woman, 10 years and above might be way to high for a man who wants to be respected by his wife, even in the developed world, some people will still frown at outrageous age gap in such cases.

I always counsel couples in this situation that they should keep their little secret to themselves as much as possible, the less people that knows about their age differences the better for them. Having a wonderful marriage is not age dependent though it could be a factor, what matters is compatibility, understanding and the determination to make it work.

WHY MOST MARRIAGES DON’T LAST – PART 1

Leave a Comment / Articles / By intimatesolution

Why Most Marriages Don’t Last? Part 1
It is sometime confusing or should I say amazing when one considers the high number of marriages recorded all over the world every week. Yet, every week in different parts of the world and different jurisdictions, we have as much numbers of divorce suits filed in different cadres of courts.
Marriage has been defined as a relationship between Husband and Wife. It has also been defined as a union of a Man and Woman who have agreed to be bound together as husband and wife. Being curious, the second definition in particular referred to man and woman. This definition simply prompted my thought in the direction of whether gay marriage same sex marriage is permissible or should exist at all. However, that is a topic for another day.
I researched carefully and ‘unfortunately’ I could not see my desired definition of Marriage which would have been simply put thus: ‘A marriage is a union of a couple who were inspired by deep love and affection and chose to be united as husband and wife’. If my expectation of what marriage should mean or how it should be defined is too ambitious, then, I therefore have no option than to restrict myself to the definition as prescribed by the undisputed wise men of history. The issue therefore is: Why are most marriages short-lived? The answer is multi-dimensional and shall be x-rayed under the two headings of Primary and Secondary Causes: I shall deal 1st with primary causes:

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The 1st primary cause of a short-lived marriage could be attributed to the missing phrase in the definition of Marriage – True Love. Research has shown that many marriages failed because of the sudden disappearance of love between the couples. A true love does not fade, therefore cannot disappear. Many people go into relationship claiming to be in love mainly because of an attraction; it could be combination of some or any of the following: good looks, riches, fame, brilliance, or position. It is only commonsensical that none of the foregoing could be said to breed true love, rather it can only encourage likeness. There was a genuine feeling, but there was no genuine love. Most of the attributes enumerated above can only encourage serious likeness but definitely not love. It takes more than physical attraction or endowment or position in life for true love to develop. Love is more spiritual, it does not develop overnight, it grows gradually and it is more empirical than assumption. Likeness is often mistaken for Love and the couples with erroneous proclamation of love for each other hastily get married. The consequence of such anomaly is regular misunderstandings and inability to tolerate each other and ultimately, the couple after a couple of months or years of managing the union will get frustrated and follow different paths.
Another reason for a short-lived marriage could be total lack of feelings. This kind of situation arises where the marriage is a Marriage of Convenience. Marriage of convenience is aimed at satisfying a certain need of either or both couple. In this situation, it is not just that there is no love, but there is also absence of emotional feelings. It could be an imposition by parents or guardian or by voluntary contraction. It is a marriage that survives only on toleration. Sometimes it lasts forever, where it lasts long, and the couple lives a miserable life of trying to manage and make the marriage work; but most times the marriage collapse midway.
To be continued: In the next edition, I’ll delve further on other causes of short-lived marriage.
Ade Adegbite.