Here's the thing- I am not a relationship expert. I'm no psychologist. I wish I could say that men do come from Mars and us women from Venus. But you and I know that when it comes to love, it's a lot better to learn about it from experience- whether it be yours or someone else's.

 Most of my life, I've always been the singleton in my group. The one who occassionally feels like third wheel when a friend is walking hand-in-hand with her "baby" (*cringe*), but most of the time, it's interesting to observe what makes their relationship work- or crash and burn. So I'm going to spill my observations to you, dear readers, and hope my point of view is, at least, amusing. (At the most, helpful. LOL.)

 I'm talking about what you expect that certain someone to be. I get worried if I ask someone what they want in a person and they answer: "Oh, it doesn't matter as long he/she is nice."

 Unless you have a different specific definition of nice... you might as well go roll downhill.

 The right answer would be like this, "someone family-oriented, witty, hilarious, sweet, occassionally spontaneous, loves dogs and doesn't mind that my bedroom looks like a hurricane breezed through it. Someone tall, though I wouldn't mind being a tad taller myself... someone who'll respect me and accept me unconditonally... blahblahblah..."

 Do not settle for "anyone nice." Anyone can be nice. Try to draw a specific picture of the someone you want to be with.List emotional and mental characteristics and personality. My friends often tell me to lower my standards just so I'd be taken off the Singles market already- but no. Having high standards means you have respect for yourself and you deserve to be treated in the greatest possible manner. (people with extremely negative, low self-esteem don't believe this, and thus, feel they deserve to be treated like crap- and end up in crappy relationships.)

 In my experience, I already had an idea of what type of guy would sweep me off my feet- I wrote down his personal qualities, characteristics, values orientation in perfect detail. I read my list weekly to remind myself and keep that picture in my head. When I (finally) got in a relationship, I reviewed what I wrote, and surprisingly- my guy had 90% of what I wrote in my notebook.

 A little note: having standards means you're looking for Mr. Possibly Right or Mr. Right- not Mr. Perfect. There's a difference.

For the girls:  I cannot emphasize enough how it is VERY important to know how the guy treats his mother. How he feels about her and how he treats her will REALLY give you a clue how he'll  be or how he'll treat you - in the future (that is, when things get really serious in the future. Still, better safe than sorry.)

It's all about the details. The simple things. Seriously.

Is he obnoxious and/or arrogant to the waitstaff? Does she constantly keep going to her phone in the middle of your dates? Does he open doors for you? (There are exceptions, specially when the woman is a hardcore feminist, "i-can-open-my-own-doors-you-chauvinist-pig" type) Does she make you feel better- or worse- after you hang out?Is he quick to raise his voice?

Do not dismiss the little things.

Do not fall into the trap of looking for someone to love and appreciate you for the reason that you need to be loved and appreciated to fill some personal gap in your life.

 I believe you should learn to love and appreciate yourself first- your strengths, your weaknesses, your quirks, your flaws- before you complete someone or before you find someone who completes you.

Note: I've known too many people who go in a relationship for the wrong reasons. It often does not end well.

Love is a dance- it's either both of you are dancing to same music or not. If you feel you're not in harmony to the rhythm, let go- and do it fast. Slower and kinder is never better.

 What's your POV on finding love?

 Okay, I must admit that I do get a kick out of books about men, women, and how we see the world quite differently from each other. I mean, it's quite funny that men won't stoop to asking directions and women can't seem to read a map without turning it upside down.

 There are probably a gazillion books and articles out there written by "experts." They write about rules, and dos and don'ts. Women's magazines are dedicated to deciphering the male verbal and body language and men swear that women are just plain hard to understand. It's actually not that complicated.

Just do unto others what you want others to do unto you.

There are no one-size-fits-all rules and solutions when it comes to relationships.