I've been married for 28 years. I was single until about the age of 33 so I had a few years of dating, some relationship lasted up to a year. I was a nerdy, skinny computer programmer back then and never really had a lot of women hit on me. I think I only every got one date from a complete stranger (other than my wife) at a bar in all those years. Bars were never my thing for finding women.

The biggest difference in my mindset looking back is that I would be more fearless. Take more chances. Put myself out there more. This was before dating apps so it was harder to just conjure up a date out of thin air and like I said I hated pickup bars so I spent a lot of time at home on weekend nights.

But I have to say, when you know it's right, it is like a glove that fits perfectly. So many women I dated it was like pulling teeth. I think on paper I was a good catch but we didn't mesh. I had a great time with one woman when I was about 28. But after about six months our lifestyles didn't mesh. She was a really bad night owl and slept all weekends (she didn't even drink she just stayed up late). I liked to get up and go on the weekends. She was still asleep at 1pm. Then she was also a devout catholic so there was that mismatch, but I was attracted to her looks and eventually I caught on and we broke up. I would tell my younger self to cut and run earlier, have less attachment to outcome and look at things more objectively. Which was very hard for me to do with women.