It's that time again. The NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament and I am all in. I have my brackets all filled out and I can't wait to see who will be the last team standing. This year however, I refuse to get MAD. I will enjoy March, but not the madness. The whirling dervish of the tournament brings out the best and worse of sports (hoops in particular). The same holds true for this dating thing. I am enjoying it, for the most part, and I am refusing to become a bitter, jaded ,hateful, single woman. I have to admit to those of you who really know me, that this isn't always easy.
The epiphany that MARCH MADNESS always makes clear to me is that there are a lot of teams. Many of them are good, some are better, but there is no way to predict the outcome and choose a winner RIGHT NOW. The games must unfold. There will be upsets and predictable victories, but not until the final TWO teams meet for the championship will the winner be established. And even then, there is never an outright winner. There will always be a degree of controversy over what would have happened if this team had played that team instead of the other team. That is where the madness comes in. It will make you mad if you sit and think out all of the possibilities, so I must remind you to keep the 3rd agreement: assume nothing, and keep on rolling with this. It is bound to be a fun trip once you establish your destination.
I am reminded of a recent road trip that took forever. In the past, this city is one I'd fly through to get to a bigger city further down the road. Often, I wouldn't even stop for gas in this city. It was just a way I marked time and distance. I knew once I got to this city, I had reached the halfway point of my journey. This particular trip to my halfway point seemed to take twice the time and it was because this city was my destination. The miles seemed to drag before me, and the trip home was even longer. The road trip was an opportunity for me to get out and jump back in with the pack. And was it ever a pack. Good thing I had a co-pilot. There were men everywhere and it was like the old saying "water water everywhere and not a drop to drink." There were so many [available & unavailable] men, I literally didn't know where to start. I couldn't have began to know where to start. To make matters worse, I was there with a man. This actually improved my stock. In their own habitat, I find men to be very comfortable and secure. Despite the presence of competition, they act like a bunch of boys in a locker room. It had a very harmless vibe. All and all, the trip showed me (and my co-pilot) that there are plenty out there, and in the right environment, they are willing to chance rejection
Tonight, I had a long talk with my oldest sister, about nothing in particular, but as usual, she made a profound statement. When you make something you consider simple your ONLY goal, it suddenly becomes the hardest thing to achieve. I have a confession: All this dating was starting to get hard, and I was about to abandon the project. I have taken men for granted for a long time, and now that finding that ONE RARE GEM has become a chore. It's because it had stopped being fun (only for a second).
So I took a time out, regrouped and I am back on it. Back to saying PERHAPS.
Even though I had an eventful road trip, I had an even more eventful solo mission in my own backyard recently. I had an opportunity to get my hands on access to the hottest ticket in my hometown (yes another): State High School Basketball Tournament.
This whole story unfolds in the strangest of ways and it forces me to say RIGHT HERE that you should NEVER rule a man out based on the fact that at that moment that you first meet him, he has nothing to offer you. This was a classic case of the toes I almost stepped on SEVERAL TIMES being connected to the cheeks I'd have to kiss. The one man I have spent several seasons avoiding turned out to be my VIP pass into the place I had spent hours trying to get into. Friends of mine who had paid for tickets were turned away after waiting hours in line. Lucky me, I got to walk in the "special door" and had floor seats. Several hours and several drinks later, it turned out that all he ever wanted from me was a little conversation. We ended up having a nice night and may even get together again.... stay tuned.
