In this day and age, every millennial and pre-teen out there is constantly looking for a new series to start on Netflix. Grey's Anatomy, One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl are three of the most commonly discussed, but recently there has been one more Netflix show making its way to every girl's watch list: New Girl. After all, if there is one TV show character any girl can relate to, it's Jessica Day. No matter if it is her quirky personality, attitude towards men, everyday life situations, or dating advice, she creates a comical episode every time that every girl can connect to, my favorite being Jessica and her dating stages. What's more relatable than the struggles of dating?
1. Making the Decision.
In my list of the dating roundabout cycle, we start with the dreaded break up. Whether you are the one having to make the decision to end things with your significant other or not, you have a decision to make on how long you wait until you start the process of dating all over again. *sigh* No girl likes to make a decision. We can't even decide where we want to eat for dinner, we definitely don't want to decide which guy is up to our impeccable standards. Consider your inner battle for months on end active.
2. Happy couples make you cringe.
During said inner battle, you will have to endure the stage of seeing cute and sappy couples. Everywhere. And they will make you sick with every lovey-dovey glance and cheesy nickname. Every. Single. Time. This has got to be one of the worst stages of post-breakup.
3. You use GNO's as an excuse.
To get your mind off of the fact you are alone and surrounded by couples, you resort to persuading your girls to have a good old fashioned girl's night with more wine, Nicholas Sparks-based movies, and no men.
4. You do anything to avoid the conversation.
This is the stage when your friends decide the self-pity stage needs to come to an end and will try and convince you to get you "back out there", perhaps even go as far as to set you up... which we can all admit typically does not end well and you may end up having to find an excuse to leave early... or hide in the bathroom and find comfort in food.
5. Believing the worst outcome.
Which brings us to the stage when you just come to accept the fact you may be alone forever and decide to give up on dating. If you say you've never thought this you are lying.
6. Becoming a cat/dog lady seems like a better and better idea.
Or on the other hand, you may be beginning to realize becoming a cat or dog lady doesn't seem so bad anymore. Every cute Pinterest photo or funny cat video will move you to tears and you will want every stray animal you see to fill the empty void and fear of being alone forever.
7. You become desperate in dating methods.
This stage. This is a stage we can all be ashamed of. Although there are those rare success stories, online dating is still socially viewed as a last resort and the sketchiest of all dating tactics. Desperation is the key motivator and failed story attempts become a regular dinner conversation with the girls.
8. You begin questioning yourself.
And, of course, there becomes the stage where you begin questioning everything. Emotions are at an all-time high, crying spells seem to happen more and more frequently, and finding a "good guy" seems impossible nowadays. Like seriously... where have all the mature, hard-working, and kind men gone?
9. When you finally see the perfect guy.
FINALLY! Of course, it happens when you least expect it or when you aren't even trying, but there he is. A perfect gentleman who seems too good to be true and one that makes every conversation easy and all the pain and self-doubt you've endured all those weeks and months seems to float away. What was the last guy's name again? Cue butterflies and rainbows.
10. The self pre-date pep talks.
Remember those butterflies I talked about? Yeah. They make us do some crazy things. First date preparation... and many, many dates after... require some weird ritual personalized to each of us. Some of us may dance in front of the mirror, take a shot before said date (no judgement), spend a full day at the spa or give yourself a pep talk with a few selfies to get your mind in the game.
11. He accepts you for all that is you.
And finally, the stage when several dates and deep talks in you begin to really see each other's flaws and strengths- and accept them. You know you have a great thing going when you know you can truly be yourself around those you care about, especially when they accept your crazy (everyone has some level). Congrats girl, you've made it out of the dating pool.
