It can be the most exciting time of your life, if you allow it to be. When it comes to senior relationships and dating, making sure you have success is as simple as making sure you don’t limit yourself. Despite the fact that you’ve entered the latter part of your life, you can make it the most exciting time ever, if you remember to put aside the fear and anxiety and let yourself be open to a new experience.
“I used to be afraid of dating after I retired,” says Dorothy, a former nurse who lost her husband to cancer at age 64. “I was always worried what people would think of me. I was married to my husband for over forty years, so how would my family and friends take it if I decided to tell them I was dating again. Well, I met a gentlemen who I really hit it off with and we dated secretly for nine months before I told anyone. As it turns out, I had nothing to be afraid of”.
Dorothy was worried about how people would perceive her actions. Senior relationships and dating can sometimes be negatively affected or stifled completely by the false impression that family or friends will not be accepting of a loving and intimate pairing with someone new. While there are certainly instances in which some people may have a negative reaction to a new partner, in most cases these anxieties are completely self-inflicted. More often than not, seniors learn that family and friends are not only accepting of but actively encourage new senior relationships and dating.
And remember that new relationships established after an appropriate period following the loss of a spouse is not a sign of disrespect to the lost loved one. No doubt that more than anything else, a loving spouse would only want true happiness for their partner.
“When my wife died, I thought that was it for me,” states John, a 68-year-old former golf pro. “I loved my wife so much that I figured I’d someone dishonor her memory if I decided to date again. I thought I’d just give up on finding another woman to share my life with, or at least what was left of my life. Then, one day, I met the perfect woman and that was that”.
What John learned about senior relationships and dating is that it IS possible to love again, if you simply allow yourself to be open to the possibility. Losing a spouse isn’t a dating death sentence for the surviving partner, and establishing a new intimate relationship is in no way disrespectful. Instead, regardless of age, finding a partner to share your years with is a perfectly healthy and natural part of life.
“I finally realized that there was nothing wrong with finding someone new, even late in life,” added John, summing up his thoughts on senior relationships and dating. “All I had to do was to let myself accept someone new. And when that happened for me, it changed my life for the better”.
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