A dancing investor and an apocalypse survivor walk into a bar… stop me if you've heard this one before. But I would venture to guess that you haven’t. I’m referring to the fictional characters Albert Brenneman from the romantic comedy movie Hitch and Glenn Rhee from the post-zombie apocalypse television series The Walking Dead. Two characters from vastly different worlds, yet both characters gave me hope for romantic love.

Now, I’ve been dating the same wonderful gal for almost 4 years now, and I know I am blessed beyond a doubt because she loves me. Yet, even after being together so long, I continue to wonder if she’ll be able to keep loving me. This springs more from my own self-doubt in being loved than from anything else. Before we ever started dating, I always thought it was a pipe dream to think she’d ever like me, let alone love me. She’s the talented, intelligent, charming Caucasian girl, while I’m the average-looking, nerdy, socially-awkward-around-girls Asian guy. Basically, with her being so great, and there being so many talented and great looking guys who aren't Asian, I always wondered what shot could I possibly have?

Enter Albert Brenneman and Glenn Rhee to bring some hope to my little world. Albert is portrayed as the bumbling, goofy and entertainingly awkward investor that is in love with celebrity Allegra Cole. He’s no supermodel and believes there's no possibility she’d ever fall for him. On the other hand, Glenn is an Asian survivor during the zombie apocalypse, who becomes attracted to Maggie, a Caucasian southern belle.

Albert breaks the social norms. He's not the buff, extremely popular and attractive guy that you'd never expect to get with a celebrity like Allegra. And yet, spoiler alert for the romantic comedy, Allegra ends up going for him because he's just being himself. He's goofy, he can't dance yet tries to, he's a klutz that spills and knocks over things - and she loves it. It's who he naturally is.

Glenn is awkward. Not particularly bold, yet brave. At first, Maggie is interested in him only in a physical way, not necessarily liking him more than that. Yet, lo and behold, they end up "getting married" (as married as you can be during an apocalypse), and being incredibly in love with each other, taking whatever risks to be together. Glenn certainly is no stud when he first appears, and yet he's able to find a true love.

Granted, these are fictional shows and relationships. Despite being fictional, though, I think the development of the relationships are rooted in something real to life. There are things more important than just how you look and how "perfect" you can be when it comes to a relationship. There's the importance of being yourself, and understanding that just because something is the norm, does not necessarily mean it will always happen. A goofy and weird Asian like me can actually be loved by someone out of my league.