How To Tell If He Is Second-Date Worthy

I read this quote recently: I love that feeling of being in love, the effect of having butterflies when you wake up in the morning. That is special.  ~ Jennifer Aniston

I love her, and no offense meant, but how has that butterfly-thing been working for Jen so far?

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During my 35-plus years of loneliness, heartbreaks, dating, love and finally marriage, my relationship with butterflies has changed a lot. Back in the day, when I met that unique man with a certain look and cocky confidence, I’d go weak in the knees. And if he made me laugh and showed me even the slightest bit of interest, that was it. I was a goner. Ahhh…bring on the butterflies.

It was exciting and I loved the feeling. That is, until I didn't. Because every one of those guys were fleeting connections who left me disappointed, confused and convinced that yet again I missed my chance at love. Why was it that all the guys I liked (and there weren't that many) didn't like me??

This was the pattern until I finally understood the difference between a good man and a good date. I learned that a man who could make a spectacular life partner may not be the most skilled dater. And many men who can wow the pants off you on a date absolutely suck at being a partner. (Yes, I meant that somewhat literally.)

It’s because of this epiphany that after seven years of marriage, every day my husband gives me butterflies, though they are the grownup kind. Like recently when I had to fly home from Missouri in the middle of a cross-country road trip after throwing out my back – big time. After my husband wheeled me to the plane (yes, via wheelchair), he drove home alone to Los Angeles in record time to be with me.

Once home, he stayed in bed with me for two days. He physically supported me any time I needed to move, served me food, tried to make me laugh and showed sympathy with my every moan and groan. All this with nary a complaint nor expectation.

The first time he propped me up and guided my hunched-over old bod to the bathroom, I looked at him and felt some serious butterflies. And it wasn’t my pain meds. It was the realization that this man was here for me, for better or worse. He actually adores me – even the highly unattractive, cranky, useless and vulnerable me.

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So what gives you butterflies? How do you look at the men you meet, and what do you use as your measurement for judging his worth as a potential partner?  Do you look for that attraction or that “it” on the first date? You know…that “thang” you can't really explain? Is your benchmark that exciting conversation where it all just clicks? If he’s too nice, does he turn you off? I mean, come on…we all want that edge, don’t we? Those are the fun dates.

My coaching client Mary, who is 44 and has never married, came to me believing there were no quality single men left to date...especially after 40. She wanted to get married and was having the same experience I used to: she wasn't meeting men who gave her butterflies, and the few who did never worked out.