Suzanne Harrington doles out some practical advice on meeting new people in the digital age. I started dating aged 38, a year after my husband and I separated. Not free fun as in blagging drinks or dinners from unsuspecting blokes โ this is not the s, and I have my own cash, thank you all the same โ but free fun in the sense of meeting so many interesting people, forming some fantastic relationships, and making some lifelong friends.
And obviously a few duds, a few hilarious horrors, and one case of medical grade heart break, but these are the rules of engagement. Dating in your fifties is the same as dating in your twenties, except with more confidence, clearer boundaries and a greater sense of freedom.
You know quite well what you want. And to have a laugh with interesting people. Or a serious conversation that makes you think. Or a shared enthusiasm for something you both enjoy โ golf because apparently some people do , politics, books, cooking, football, bog snorkelling, whatever.
Shared values are more important โ as a UK resident, my dating profiles always prominently state No Tories. It separates the wheat from the chaff, because those with whom I am politically incompatible are repelled job done and it cuts through tedious first date pussyfooting.
Oh, you voted for Brexit? Waiter, bill please. But differences are great too, so long as they are stimulating, rather than horrifying, and underlaid by shared values โ my last relationship was with someone whose way of thinking was radically different from mine, which made it really interesting, although ultimately untenable.
