Posts Tagged ‘hungry for love’

 

Take the Menu Challenge!

Friday, October 16th, 2009

When I was single, I started to worry that I was becoming so set in my ways—what I liked to eat, what time I liked going to bed—I’d have a hard time finding a person to fit into them. After all, the older we get, the more we like things the way we like ’em.

Try something new to show you're open to new

Try something new to show you're open to new

This is natural and healthy, it’s called figuring out who you are. But there is something to the idea that if you keep doing exactly the same thing every single day, you may have a hard time seeing the possibility of a new life with someone else. So here’s an OPTIMISM ASSIGNMENT for you: Order something different off the menu at the place you go to all the time.

I know, I know, you love the chopped salad with the goat cheese. And me, I have the hardest time not ordering the shredded beef Szechuan at my Chinese place. But the thing is, ordering the same thing all the time at the same place is a sign that you may be falling into all sorts of predictable patterns in your life. The same walk home. The same drink out. The same shows on TiVo. But love, as we know, is not predictable. So today, practice doing something unpredictable as a symbol that you are open to new things! To new people, to new dates, to new interests, to a new life with a new partner who’ll make you smile every single morning you wake up—no matter what time you went to bed. Take the menu challenge and see it as a step toward opening up even more for the great relationship you’re meant to have.

You might also like:
The Coffee Test
The Freakin’ Fun Dating List

Big love,

Amy Signature 4

What’s Your Black Jewell?

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

Today, I got one of my favorite packages in the mail: My new supply of popcorn kernels. (And yes, I realize I talked about popcorn yesterday, too. I can’t help it…it’s my vice!)

There's a jewel within every person you meet

What's the jewel in the next person you meet? (Note: This isn't black kernel popcorn, though it still looks good!)

Since I get bored with your average everyday yellow corn kernel I mix it up by getting various kinds of kernels, from ruby red to purple to dwarf whites. But my absolute favorite? Black Jewell, a tiny kernel that pops into a miniature piece of super-crunchy, nutty-flavored, snow white popcorn. (There are lots of other black or even midnight blue kernels, too, and they’re all worth trying.) Yet I wouldn’t have known about Black Jewell were it not for my friend Yvonne who was making some one night when I “popped” over to her place. After just one bite, my life changed just that much for the better.

Well, guess what? Life is full of little moments like this that can change your life for the better and we often have other people to thank for showing us the light. Remember that: Everyone you meet in life is there to teach you something—if, that is, you’re open to figuring out what.

I remember the first person who played me Nina Simone and the first person who fed me something with cilantro in it (after which I apparently screeched to my friend, “It tastes like dish soap, you have to try it!”). I’m sure your life list is equally full of experiences you would have missed out on had you not been open to trying it, tasting it, listening to it, or giving it a shot.

If you’re looking for a relationship, now’s the best time to open your eyes, your ears and your heart and pay attention to what people can teach you. Maybe you learn about a new something, or maybe you learn a new something about yourself. Don’t get so caught up in reaching the finish line of the right relationship that you don’t notice all the great stuff you can learn along the way! And the truth is, if you start looking around you instead of straight ahead, you might find that the right relationship is standing next to you trying to get your attention.

Love isn’t all about getting to the finish line. It’s about finding the Black Jewells along the way—the things that will make your life a little sweeter and make you sing a little louder. So pay attention today: If you’re open to it, you might find something that changes your life even that much for the better.

You might also like:
Man Advice From a 1943 Classic? You Bet!

Big love and happy popping,

Amy Signature 4

Man Advice from a 1943 Classic? You Bet.

Monday, August 10th, 2009

I’m embarrassed it took me this long to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. In fact, I’ll admit, after skimming the page cover one day in the bookstore years ago, I saw the “family growing up in 1939” bit and just wasn’t in a Depression-era kind of mood. I think I read Candace Bushnell’s Trading Up instead. (And, well, I loved that, too. Bushnell sure can weave a good story.)

In any case, I finally feasted on this wonderful book by Betty Smith, and it was absolutely delicious. I can’t recommend it enough, whatever “mood” you’re in. But I’d like to draw attention to the part of the book that contains some of the best man advice I’ve seen in a while…

Francie felt sorry for Flossie. She never gave up hope no matter how many times she lost out with Frank. Flossie was always running after men and they were always running away from her. Francie’s Aunt Sissy ran after men, too. But somehow they ran to meet her halfway. The difference was that Flossie Gaddis was starved about men, and Sissy was healthily hungry about them. And what a difference that made.”

Don’t you just love that? Smith knew what she was talking about, and it’s great advice: Don’t feel starved for love. Feel healthily hungry.

Big love,

Amy Signature 4