Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my dating past. I am a firm believer that your dating past brings you exactly what your present and future can be, as long as you learn from it. Meaning, are you making the same mistakes and getting the same results, while at the same time, blaming your dating partners? Have you ever wondered what makes you so special? And why would someone want to be with you?

A friend of mine is in a new relationship that seems to be blossoming. She’s one of these women that for years I wonder, why the heck guys don’t see how amazing she is. In a lot of ways, she reminds me of me. Loud, funny, highly career focused, no kids, lover of booze. For a while, I was afraid all those things held me back from finding a great guy. And again, I found myself wondering, “What makes me so special?”

Over the years, the question of finding someone who makes you feel special, was always one that I tried to answer. I need a man to treat me like the goddess that I am. The older I became, however, I realized that I need to tap into my own blend of special, and love and appreciate that, before anyone else can. Believe it or not, our moms were right. “You have to love yourself, before anyone else can love you.” Who knew?!

All you can hope, is that the next person, your person, that you end up with, sees something magical in you, that no other partner ever has. At the end of the day, that’s what makes that relationship “The One”. And a lot of that, comes from not only loving the  things that make you “special”, but the bad, the ugly, the insecure, the annoying, the flatulence. So here’s to finding and loving what makes you special. Here’s to first appreciating it on your own and the beautiful dating process, that will lead you to find someone else, who will think that you’re not only special, but pretty darn groovy, too!