In times like these when love is fleeting, loyalty is lessened, and integrity is insufficient, we find ourselves resorting to any reasonable means to secure the heart for a better walk. We endeavor to make that walk as leisurely as we can albeit with stability and on solid ground. Inasmuch as caution is given to those things that may not be discernable, we plow ahead anyway hoping that we can finally be content with making good discernable choices. Just when I think I have a handle on things a new order comes into being and we’re given more choices. I speak of the world wide web and the new status information is given, both retrieving it and disseminating it. We can now go online to find any type of woman or man fathomable to us. With a click of the mouse we can enhance, erase, embellish and empower. We can pour our feelings out hoping that someone would heed and answer. There’s all types of reasons why true friendship can be daunting online having to rely on a long distance correspondence. It takes more than perseverance for spontaneity to be a part of follow up techniques and keeping lines of communication open.

Singles the world over are looking for tangible ways to meet Mr. and Miss Right. The internet with all of its intrinsic ways to bare it all, and still be the very tool used by many to fuel e-mail transmission, color BLOGS for the latest of the intimate diary online nowadays, and the closeness of instant messaging. Oh yes, the tools are there, and so are the wherewithal to use yet, another way to take a chance. To many this may well be how the law of averages finally stack up to give a poor sucker a break…or, it very well could be the very thing that can undo the best laid plans. The perils and pleasures of online dating is taken at your risk, but stop to ask yourself: Are there any inherent code of conduct one should adhere to? Yes, yes, and YES! Shop around for the best entity that will serve your purpose and intent. All peripherals are not the same. Each online portal has their rules and regulations, and more often than not a lot of them are not gratis. Yahoo! Personals is one of the better ones for single people seeking dates, romance, and lifelong partners. No matter what kind of relationship you're after, always allow yourself the comfort of having fun. Keep your integrity intact and tell the truth. Be honest and respectful to whom you seek. If you are single, say it and be gentlemanly about how you project your conversation pieces.

I’ve carried on quite a few online relationships and find them therapeutic. Of course, not everyone is created equal. The key is finding someone that share your sensibilities, and will not undermine your best attempts at meaningful liaisons. Take my friend in Salt Lake City, for instance, Darlene is a charm. She’s my muse, my echo of a sounding board, able to give me what I want in terms of the humanities; Claritta, in Little Rock, is soothing in the way she allows me to touch sensitive nerves as a confidante; Marlive in Dallas is my mentor, the one who I know I can go to for anything and be relieved that knowledge and wisdom won’t be compromised; and Vickie in Maryland. Friends all, they help to make this online correspondence up close and personal for me.

The perils cannot be understated. They exist because some people are just plain miserable and they love company to keep others down. They’re the ones I call ‘surface people’…those that ONLY see what they WANT to see without going deeper for better understandings, and the real heart of matters. Perils will exist because humanistic traits are such that Murphy’s Law will prevail for the mere fact that the agenda won’t be for their liking. They will always find ways to throw the best wrench into your well-meaning intent. I close by saying know whom you’re seeking beforehand and put them through the same set of tactics you’d use if they were in your face. Be discernable and opt for that gut feeling that won’t go away. And most importantly, keep an open mind, and eschew tendencies to have someone talk you out of what you believe in!