It is all well and good for single parents, or any single, to make a list of traits that they would like in a potential partner (if they want one). But there is another list that is even more important, I think.

This is a public service reminder that people usually don’t get what they want by playing it safe. If you live in a bunker that you peer out of now and then in order to scan the horizon, it is time to take a moment and ask yourself, what are you willing to risk for love?

Are you willing to...

1. ... be shown that you are not right all of the time?
2. ... get hurt and suffer disappointment?
3. ... be blameless if it doesn’t work out or get off the ground?
4. ... swallow your pride?
5. ... look foolish in the eyes of others?
6. ... let another see your weakest moments?
7. ... own your own insecurities and not project them onto another?
8. ... occasionally compromise your own needs for the needs of another?
9. ... learn?

Does this list look insurmountable? Can you do it? Are you willing to do more than wait for prince(ss) charming to land in your lap? And I don’t just mean “getting out there and meeting people,” though that certainly helps. I mean that after you do get out there, are you prepared to let your guard down and let life in?

Besides wealth, fame and a record of good deeds, there is another measure of someone’s life and that is simply to ask, “What were they willing to risk in life? What chances did they take?”