I Will Never Stop Getting My Hopes Up In Dating (And Neither Should You)

I probably should have lost hope a long time ago. I probably should have lost hope after my heart was shattered to the point where the damage done was irreparable. I probably should have lost hope after my first relationship in almost three years crumbled after just four months.

I probably should have lost hope after the warm feeling I’ve never had for someone before turned out to be nothing more than hot air. I probably should have lost hope after the next relationship was even shorter than the one that preceded it.

I probably should have lost hope when my love letter was received, but never answered. I probably should have lost hope when a magical first kiss ultimately ended up being a final kiss goodbye. I probably should have lost hope for all these reasons and more, and yet I’m still here with wide eyes and high hopes that my forever person is out there.

I will never stop getting my hopes up in dating, and neither should you. I can’t help but get my hopes up because it’s how I’m wired. It’s in the thoughts running through my mind and in the blood running through my veins. I don’t ever want apathy to take over and turn an exhilarating adventure into a mundane task.

I don’t ever want those butterflies fluttering around my stomach in the early stages of dating to fly away. I don’t ever want the heart-racing feeling leading up to a first kiss to settle. I don’t ever want thought of, “What could be?” to turn into, “Why bother?” I will never stop getting my hopes up because everyone tells me not to. I will never stop getting my hopes up because when I meet the right person, I want to tell her she was the reason for keeping them high.

The world is filled with jaded, cynical people, and a good majority of them occupy the dating world. I refuse to become one of them. People become jaded when they have stopped opening themselves up to the possibility of something great happening. People become cynical when they have stopped believing that there are good, genuine people out in the world — some of whom may be looking for them, as well.

After so many failed or otherwise underwhelming experiences, it’s easy to lose faith that something better awaits. Being burned by all of the “lasts” in your past — the last touch, the last text message, the last goodbye — begins to close off any hope that some of your “last firsts” may lie ahead.

The last first date. The last first kiss. The last first time. All of the beautiful moments you waited so long for could be mere miles ahead, but you will never know if you take the exit ramp off the road to love. That is all the more reason to keep your hopes high.

If you know you’re heading in the right direction, you should not get deterred just because you haven’t arrived yet.