After an Icky Date

The day after a disastrous date can be full of blame, guilt, shame, and copious amounts of chocolate — if you let it. Or you can take a deep breath and call it like it is: one date that didn’t ring your chimes. Period. What I don’t want you to do is

• Bad-mouth your date.
• Call and beg forgiveness.
• Berate yourself all day (week, month, year, life).
• Vow never to date again.
• Quickly arrange a date with just anybody to prove it’s not you that’s icky.
• Avoid feeling disappointed by overeating, over-drinking, over-drugging . . . overdoing anything.

Look, feeling disappointed is okay. It’s a letdown when things don’t work out as you hoped! But you can feel it without wallowing in it. You can experience a disappointment without draping yourself in black. Most importantly, you can forgive yourself and your date for not being a perfect match. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s life.