Are you ready to date?

With the idea of being in a relationship constantly getting shoved down our throats, sometimes it can be hard to tell if we are even ready to date. Here are some pointers you might want to consider before you venture into the playing field.

1. You have financial stability

You can conduct you affairs without requiring money from any potential partner, and you have enough money coming in to split the bills with your partner if needed. It’s 2015, no one wants to deal with a liability.

2. You have emotional maturity

You are grown up enough to handle yourself without help. This means while you might want emotional help sometimes, you do not need it. Emotionally matured adults can cheer themselves up when they are down and can keep themselves entertained and stimulated without the aid of other people. Being an emotional burden on someone else can be very tasking for them.

3. You have clarity of priority and purpose

In the individualistic world we leave in today, it has never been more important to know who you are and what you want. This way you can best identify potential partners that want similar things and can work together with you.

READ: 5 rules for Friends with Benefits

4. You have realistic expectations

The idea of happily ever after as proposed by Disney films and way too many romantic comedies will have you thinking relationships will take you away from the misery of being alone to this perfect world of love and harmony. The reality is far from this. Relationships are difficult and require a lot of work. If you don’t know what you are going in for, stay away.

5. You have dispelled ‘the one’ theory

The notion that out there we all have this one soulmate created to perfectly fit with us like a glove for a hand. This person is supposed to understand us intuitively and know how to handle us in every situation. The reality is that we don’t even understand ourselves completely and can mismanage ourselves in so many situation. So why would we expect someone else to understand and manage us perfectly?

READ: 5 funny but awesome times to be in a relationship

6. You have understood the honeymoon phase

Even scientifically it has been shown that the feeling we associate with falling in love is just a hormonal reaction caused by the secretion of oxytocin. Understanding that after the honeymoon phase love becomes something we need to work on and grow with emotional intelligence is important if we hope to succeed.