The Real Deal

P.T. Barnum once said, ~You can fool some of the people some of the time, and you can fool all the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time.~ In our own pursuit of happiness, whether it be person or professional, one tends to sometimes be fooled by the outside appearances of certain people, places, or things. It's not until we find out during or at the end of one's seemingly drama-filled life that we tend to give a premature verdict when we, as the saying goes, judge a book by its proverbial cover. What may look too good to be true in the beginning ends with a painful price, which is utter heartbreak. Ultimately, when it comes to potential relationships, it's just a matter of distinguishing fact from faction.

The one basic fact that every person can agree on is that love can and does oftentimes stink. We've all experienced the pratfalls of either being turned down, dumped, having one's feelings not returned back by that particular person, unrequited love, or been cheated on. Though cold and heartless it may see, that's life and we just have to roll with the punches, so to speak. In a way, it's like being in a heavyweight boxing match in which there are times where we want to throw in the towel and give up. Though we are physically and mentally drained, our own heart will drive us to keep on going and going and going. For it's one's own heart that doesn't want to be counted out because it still has some fight left in it.

Most or some women believe that all guys have a hidden agenda when they meet someone he is interested in which is purely fiction. True, some guys, who are the self proclaimed "players" and/or "ladies men" who basically give every other decent guy in America a bad wrap because we're basically guilty by association. Working with mostly women for the past several years has given me somewhat of an inside scoop into what women want, like, and dislike. From my own perspective, a woman should be treated like a lady and she should be treated with the same respect as if a guy were dating my own mother. Yet, it will always be a Catch 22, when something such as love gets involved.

For it's definitely a fact that the human condition in all guys are basically hunters. From a philosophical standpoint, it's that thrill of the hunt or chase that is always flowing in our veins and it will never go away. Unfortunately, particular guys have this sophomoric and deluded ideology that women are merely conquests to brag about and add to one's little black book. To some guys, the hunt is just a game that ends up hurting someone that doesn't deserve to be hurt. Anyways, personally speaking, I have temporarily given up on the so-called hunt because in the back of my mind, I think she will catch me. Let me tell you something, I don't like playing games and I'm not that hard to find.

In retrospect, a person can be fooled once, possibly twice, but never a third time because one will be cautious as matters of the heart will be temporarily or permanently closed due to trust issues. The question can be asked, how do you know if that person who is interested in you is telling the truth? You can't, you just have to go with your instincts. Inevitably, each of us will meet someone that will slip past one's proverbial radar screens and that is a fact. But not ever opening up your heart and not falling in love again is fiction. In the end, whether it be fact or fiction, when you finally meet that one person who is genuinely the total package, he or she will truly be considered the real deal.