My mother once warned that the older a person gets without entering a committed relationship the less likely they will.  Her theory being that entering into such relationships required a level of innocents,  blind ‘faith’ and ability to leap into the unknown.  The wide-eyed wonder of youth.

That’s a really interesting take on it! I think she might be right, but this may also be what leads to so many divorces or unhappy marriages. When you go into things so blindly, it’s much more likely you’ll end up with a mismatched partner, and that might be why the older generations are much more cautious. We want to be in a HAPPY relationship, not just a relationship. I’m wondering what the statistics are for the relationship status of those who get into relationships when they’re older (even 2nd or 3rd marriages or 1st marriages for those who “wait long rather than marry wrong”). I’d wager that those relationships are happier and more likely to last.

I do agree, though, that we have to make sure we aren’t afraid of relationships or being TOO picky. I think it’s the difference between “I can’t date this guy because he doesn’t like Star Wars” and “I can’t date this guy because he constantly complains while making no effort to change things, and that is something that drives me insane.”  You know what I mean?  One is nitpicky and another is something that may not bother everyone but is a character flaw that might be a big deal to you.

I think younger people in general tend to look past the things (“red flags”) that end up being deal-breakers later on while the older people of learned to pay better attention to those things. So we, as the older people, just have to make sure we’re not actively looking for things that may be wrong with people (nobody’s perfect, right?) but still being mindful to pay attention to them when they are glaringly obvious. Know what I mean?