Searching for The One...

Face it: you're never going to find the man of your dreams if you go around with a list of criteria, pre-requisites, qualities and characteristics. Obviously it helps if you have things in common, you like the same things and you have the same view on life, but don't obsess about finding someone who matches up to your ideals - you'll never find him.

Like Father Christmas, the perfect man simply doesn't exist: you believe in him when you're little and then you come to realise it's just an illusion! When you fall in love with someone you fall in love with the whole package - faults, differences and all. Don't close your eyes to someone you could love just because you have different tastes in music, political leanings and the like - love conquers all...

Maybe you look to your parents' relationship as a model for perfection; maybe you've read too many romantic films or novels and tried to copy dramatic and unrealistic relationship models because they're all you know. They're often far removed from reality - you need to build your own model of happiness that suits you and your reality.