Does your date book resemble a casino bingo card – a lot of empty numbered squares with the potential for a big score? Are there journal notes, grocery lists, and random to do lists scrawled across the blank white spaces? It is time to return the calendar to its original function: a book filled with dates worth keeping!
Now that you are single and closing in on 50, 60 or 70 years of age, you don’t have a minute to waste of your dating life.
Cancel your Netflix subscription.
And anything else that keeps you addicted to in-home entertainment gratification. If you start salivating when those little red envelopes show up at your door or you only cross your home’s threshold for work, it’s time for some flesh and blood interaction.Brush up on your lines.
Add the drama of community theatre to your social repertoire. Attend a performance or research past productions before choosing a playacting group. Shine in the spotlight or volunteer to handle things behind the scenes. After the curtain falls admitting to a cast member, “Did you know that the way you light up on stage really moves the audience, including me?” could lead to a backstage romance.Throw out the takeout in your refrigerator.
Have dinner with eight. Start an eating club with your over 40 single workmates and friends. The college alternative to dorm food provides an environment with shared cooking duties in exchange for home cooked meals. Alternate having each person to invite a new friend to the gathering and turn it into a “date my friend” dinner party. You can set each other up at this once a week standing date.Stop solitary catalog shopping and buying online.
Flirt with your fellow shoppers while choosing a great tie for your brother’s birthday or a sweater for your sister at the Banana Republic store. “Excuse me, but would you be caught dead or anywhere else wearing this?” Sure, you can get live advice online, but teasing an answer from an attractive stranger ranks as much better customer service.Let the arts entertain you.
Follow the crowds to the latest museum exhibit or stroll happy hour art gallery openings. As you wander through the collections, casually engage other patrons of the arts in conversation. “I couldn’t help admiring you admiring that painting,” you might say to the foxy brunette gazing at a watercolor landscape. Or “Isn’t it amazing what some people can do with a can of paint?” Then suggest an evening of artistic expression at the local paint your own pottery store.Dust off your library card.
Roam the aisles of your local bookstores and town library. While you are fingering the shelves, look for female bookworms in the self-help/how-to sections and male browsers among the mystery selections. “Hey could you tell what’s inside that book by its cover? Or was it fraudulent advertising?” Compare notes over lattes at the bookstore coffee bar.Buddy up for playtime activities.
Advertise for an activity partner in the personals section of your local newspaper. Or check the activities listing under “community” on Craigslist.com. You’ll be surprised at how many other people are looking for a workout buddy; an Indie flicks buddy, a photography buddy, or a traveling buddy, to name just a few partners in need. And having fun is contagious. The people who play together often end up staying together.Go clubbing.
Register with Meetup.com, which matches people nearby who share your interest in hanging with your pet, cultivating other newly single friends or trying out the latest trivia game. The site has millions of members all over the country who “meet up” for recreational pleasures. You can join an existing club or start your own. Turn acquaintances into great dates by bonding over mutual passions!Go back to school.
But this time don’t return to the classroom. Find a private dance studio catering to your age group. Take tango or ballroom dancing lessons where holding someone close is part of the instructions. Or rub elbows at a cooking class at the neighborhood kitchen supplies store where you will be tempted to say, “I hope it’s the onions and not my cooking skills causing those tears.” Explore the psychic connection by learning to read palms where handholding is required. Or an evening massage class will get you in touch with your fellow students.Lend A Hand.
Help someone else and find yourself in good company. Check the local papers and church bulletins for community service projects. Serving in a soup kitchen, repairing an older home, tutoring at an afterschool program or pulling weeds in a community garden can inspire an attitude of gratitude and provide an overwhelming sense of fulfillment. It is also an opportunity to make new friends while doing good.When was the last time you did something for the first time?
You know what they say: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” This week, commit to doing an activity you have not tried before. Focus on photography; learn to play bocce ball or sign up for that kayaking class on the lake. Take advantage of being a newbie and rely on others for help. People love to share their favorite pastimes with new fans.DATE MORE CHALLENGE: The point is to try something new and open yourself up to the possible. As in, it is possible I might discover something or someone new today!
