There's a simple and pure joy that comes with the beginning of a relationship. Everything is new and exciting, every moment is one you want to remember. There's so much possibility, and so much hope.
But there are also a lot of thoughts. Some good. Some bad. All of it a bit overwhelming. For us, the whole messy jumble of excitement, bliss, anxiety and terror looks a little something like this:
1. How long before I screw this up?
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2. What if we're actually not at all compatible?  What if we're too compatible? That's a thing, right? Because if we're too similar it'd be like dating myself and I don't want to do that! I'm a handful.
3. What if they hate Parks and Rec? I can't be with someone like that. That's a dealbreaker.
4. Really, though. What's that saying? "If it's too good to be true, then odds are it is and you'll find a way to screw it all up and burn it all down"? That sounds accurate.
5. I'm going to say something stupid. Maybe I won't. That's a lie. I definitely will. It's only a matter of time.
6. How long before I get to stop trying to pull myself together and look really good for dates? When do I get to stop shaving and wearing anything other than sweatpants? Because, really, all of this "trying" stuff is exhausting.
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7. Maybe I should just be honest with them and tell them I'm a lazy mess of a person who generally doesn't like to wear pants. There's nothing wrong with that, right?
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8. What if their parents hate me? What if I hate their parents? What if we all hate each other? I'm sure that's impossible, right? We can't all hate each other. This is real life, not a Christmas movie about estranged siblings with divorced parents.Â
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9. It'll all be fine as long as I don't mention my horrific track record with relationships. Or the fact that I love dogs more than people.
10. Can't we just skip the dating process and go right to the relationship part? Dating is too nerve-wracking. There's too much pressure.
11. Then again, we need to go through the dating process in order to learn about each other and know if we're a good match.
12. So maybe it has its merits. Still terrible, though.
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13. Wait. We could also not be compatible sexually. Which would be ... well, awful, really. Just truly, truly awful.
14. But maybe, if I stop worrying about everything, it will work itself out? Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe we should try that. I don't know if it'll work, but we can certainly try. Besides, there's really only one dealbreaker to worry about -- what if they secretly love Donald Trump?
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