Meeting new people, going on dates, chatting online to potential mates and sitting through endless speed dating events or set-ups can and will take a toll on you and it is perfectly OK to hit the pause button for a while. Here are three times it is OK to hit the pause button on dating: It doesn’t take the sting out of sitting all alone like an idiot for 30 minutes, an hour etc and having people stare at you at a restaurant, bowling alley, theatre play etc with pity in their eyes.

I’ve just recently taken a pause myself and discovered amazing new things about myself like exactly what it is I am looking for in a partner and how to enjoy male company without the pressure of always wondering if there is something more. What’s worse is if your date didn’t even have the courtesy to text or call to let you know they cannot make it. This, you need to understand, is not your fault – someone who does this to you, isn’t the one for you so gather your dignity and let it go.

Those realizations, though, took long and hard work and were precipitated by some harrowing and tiresome dating experiences. Sometimes, it is a simple case of you being more invested in a date than the other person is or they got nervous and freaked out. The next time you get invited on a date, let that person put in all of the hard work and enthusiasm. I realized that if this was the way he was acting before I met him, he wasn’t worth meeting … screw it, time to log out! Go on and do it!

I had a guy calling me nasty names and insulting me because I wasn’t responding to his messages as quickly or as enthusiastically as he’d like. It didn’t seem to matter to him that he wasn’t putting in the work to ask me worthwhile questions or trying to get to know me- he was angry that I wasn’t fawning over him. Hitting the pause button and enjoying some me-time is an amazing, freeing experience and one you should take every now and then to clean the slate for the next round of dating.