Sometimes, life just happens to us. You hop in your car, maybe put the GPS on, and before you know it, you’re pulling into your parking spot without remembering a single turn you took.

Dating involves a series of decisions. Some are minor and straightforward, others are complicated and emotion-laden.

You may have heard the advice: “You have to be a whole person before you can be in a relationship.”

It’s usually delivered with the confidence of a universal truth (like the kind of advice that sounds deep, but rarely gets examined).

We hear a lot about emotional intelligence these days — but before you get to maturity or communication, it all starts with something simpler (and often overlooked): awareness.

Keep dating the same type of person or ending up in the same frustrating dynamic no matter how much you “work on yourself”?

Think your photos are the reason dating isn’t working?

This first date guide is for anyone who’s never had one, hasn’t had a good one, or hasn’t had one in a while.

Alright, let’s get this out of the way: first dates are awkward.

At first, everyone is a stranger. So how do you know if they’re someone you want to get to know better — or someone to politely exit stage left?

Have you ever been on a date that felt perfectly pleasant, only to hear later, “I just didn’t feel a romantic connection”?