Everyone wants to find the perfect partner. It seems to come more easily for some people than for others. Perhaps one of the reasons that many people find it so difficult to find a partner has to do with the expectations they have of their relationships and their partner.

It’s important to be realistic about what you want and need from a mate. Nobody’s perfect, and no relationship is perfect. If you find yourself having trouble finding the right partner, or the right relationship, keep the following three things in mind when you consider what’s really important to you.

• Be open to types you haven’t considered –I can’t even count the number of female friends who have immediately ruled out a man as a potential partner for some superficial reason, without even getting to know him first. Expectations like “they must have a college degree” or “they can’t have been married before” limit the number of people we are open to meeting, and may cause us to pass over someone who could have been the love of our life.
• Don’t expect to find someone who likes everything you like – Many people are looking for their mirror image. Not only will this prove difficult to find, but if you do find it, you might end up being incredibly bored. It is important to agree on basic values and goals, but beyond that, liking all the same things is not necessary. 15 years ago if you had told me that I would have married an ex-Navy sailor who loved antique cars and fishing, I would have said you were crazy. But that’s who I ended up marrying and it has worked beautifully in part because we’re so different.
• Don’t expect your partner to meet all your emotional needs- Expecting one person to fulfill all your needs is not only unrealistic, but it puts a terrible burden on your partner. Both of you will still need to have friends and interests apart from each other in order to be fulfilled.

Dating Essentials Attraction, Expectations, Fussy, Partner

Everybody who is looking to meet new people online wants to connect with others whose interests are the same as theirs. After all, this is the basis of just about any personal relationship, right? Having similar interests is nothing new and there are plenty of online dating sites out there that focus on matching up interests, sometimes even very narrow, specific interests.

These specific interest sites are a great way to meet like minded singles if there is something that is really, really important to you, like physical fitness, music, or the like. But what about books? Lots of people love to read, and these same people often want to meet others who love to read as well.

Enter Alikewise.com, a new online dating site that is set up especially to connect singles based on their reading habits. Instead of searching by height, weight, age, or the like, this unique online dating service connects you with others by allowing you to search by books they have read.

That’s right, books. When you set up your profile you list the books you’ve read that you really like, which can be sorted by author and book title. Then when you’re ready to search for other singles you search for those who have read a particular book or author. It’s that simple and that unique.

So let’s say you loved “The Shining” by Stephen King. You include it in your list of books read and then search for others who have included it in their list as well. Your search will return a list of singles who have read that book, allowing you to connect with any of them you find interesting.

Think of it as going to the library and looking over the shoulder of someone else to see what they are checking out. It’s a fun and unique way to connect with other singles!

Relationships Alikewise.com, Hobbies, Meet People, Reading

One of the challenges of online dating is actually getting out there to meet other singles. The pressures that come with having to meet face to face, one on one, can be huge and for many singles it’s intimidating enough to make them think twice about online dating.

Now there’s a good solution that brings together the best of online dating with the best of getting out there to meet other people. Urban Social is an online dating company that offers traditional online services, but also expands its reach into local areas by partnering with other companies to create in-person events and activities. This is not necessarily a brand new approach; other online dating services have tried to offer events and gatherings as part of their services.

What makes the Urban Social approach different is that they are not actually putting on the events themselves but rather working with third parties who do the actual event planning and execution. It’s a partnership model that works well, especially in smaller markets where the local partner knows what will be popular and cost effective for that area. All they have to do is set themselves up with Urban Social, put together an event outline for Urban Social to approve, and then Urban Social partners with them to promote and support the event.

So whether you’re a single looking for interesting events and activities in your area or someone who would like to create a singles event for your community, take a look at Urban Social. You just might find something exciting to really take off!

News & Views Events, Meet People, UK, Urban Social