So as with any new experience there are negatives. But often they are just as interesting as the positives if you look at them with the right frame of mind.
The online dating site is no exception to this rule. HA! Actually, its guaranteed to be a crash course in experiences both positive and negative! I’ve told you a few of the fun positives, so I should expand a bit on the negatives.
The first one that hit me was obviously a misunderstanding and because of that I spent a lot of thought perplexing about it. It was an email from a gentlemen interested and while it had a few spelling typos it was at least longer than a single sentence of “what ya doin” which I’d seen a lot . I must have been feeling a bit playful and I fired off more of a “humorous Heather” reply and less one from the Seductive woman I am on the site. And his reply was scathing!
Apparently he thought I was insulting him and sent an email filled with insults about me. I was truly surprised. And the first thought was, “hey, YOU emailed ME. If I’m THAT unattractive what are you doing emailing me!” The second thought was to reply and explain that he misunderstood. Because it bugged me he had the wrong impression of me. And then later I wanted to reply to show him how “unaffected” I was by his words.
But I stopped myself and looked at MY motivations. Why did I care what he thought? He was a stranger, he was nothing to me. And I was really nothing to him as he didn’t know ME. I realized my motivations to convince him he was wrong AND that I didn’t give a sh*t about his opinion was based on my own need to be liked. And my need to be right.
So I played it forward. In my head I replied to him in email and imagined what may come of that action. He’d write back saying, “Oh I didn’t realize.. let’s have sex.” Or he’s write back more venom and I’d be back to square one. Or I’d get no response back and would never know if my words had changed his opinion.
That made me realize I didn’t want to be intimate with anyone who not only didn’t “get” my sense of humor but was so easily offended and felt free to childishly slam me back. And I didn’t want to be caught in a negative exchange of emails. So the best thing to do, the mature thing to do, was to ignore his little email and let him believe whatever he wants to believe about me. If he knew me, really knew me, he’d know his words aren’t wounding me deeply. I solidly like who I am and a stranger’s insults are water off a duck’s back to me. Just your opinion. You’re entitled to it and I’m entitled to let it have no affect on me.
Similar things have happened 3 other times. A cub informing me I’m “not hot, average on my best day” because I commented on his odd mannerisms (he’s probably Asperger’s, but if he’s going to pursue his acting.. he’d better get better at faking it!) and apparently he was insulted. Another who exploded into jealousy over a minor comment and vented it. And a third who, after pursuing me for months, informed me he’d changed his mind and gave me reasons that were based on faulty impressions of me.
With all of them I dealt with my automatic instinct to “set them straight” in one way or another. But I realized… why bother? Their words didn’t hurt. Bugged me maybe because they were obviously misinformed or immature in thinking hurtful words would change things. But did I really have the time to correct their misinformed opinions? No, I did not. I had the choice to ignore it.
See I believe that fate brings into my life two types of people. Those that I learn from and those that learn from me. I look at every encounter, email, meet and experience as learning on my journey or learning on another’s. Which is why the negatives don’t hurt and teach me just as much about myself as the positives. Some might call that maturity but I’ve always had a bit of that attitude about other people’s opinion about me. It may be why I’ve never been affected by peer pressure and walked my own road.
This calm philosophy truly began when I started opening my eyes to the coincidences around me that I noticed my affect on others. My own opinions and attitudes seem to make others laugh or smile and to look at their own lives just a little differently. This too I’d always had and its the reason I often feel the need to correct misconceptions about me others may have. In personality I’m both the Entertainer and the Teacher.
But at my core, I’m fate’s tool. And sometimes people don’t want to learn, hear or grow. For those I must turn the other cheek. But not like the Christians say. I’m not offering you my other cheek to slap. You’re seeing my other cheek as I turn my head to walk away. And you’re seeing it as I shake my head in sadness at the choice you made.
And it’s the reason I list the number one ingredient in a FWB (friend with benefits) is respect. If we cannot respect each other we have no business being intimate. I love sex but there are plenty of men who respect me and want me that I don’t need to sleep with the ones who can do one without the other.