A little while ago, I had coffee with a friend. As is the norm with girls, we ended up talking about relationships in general, when I said this, "Relationships... aren't like anything else on this planet. It doesn't get any easier with practice. In fact, I think it just gets worse the more people you date. I mean... how do you know that this guy you're with... that he's the one? That he's the one you're meant to be with? I've felt this way before about other people and they didn't work out. How do you know?"

I was surprised at how desperate I sounded, not just by the words I used, but also by my tone. I had definitely not having intended to go down this road.

I'd also completely forgotten that the man my friend had recently got engaged to was her first and only boyfriend.

But she said this, "Well, I don't know if I'll ever feel this way about another guy, but what I have right now with him, it's quite good and I guess... if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Not exactly the most inspiring words in the world, but then again, my friend has never been the emotional, expressive sort. I know she's happy with her fiance, and he does seem like a nice, sweet guy beneath his gruff exterior.

Let's get back to how this started. I've been wondering, could all this dating - not at all excessive by quite a few people's standards - have rendered my judgement permanently impaired? Perhaps that, coupled with the damage wrought by the romantic songs and movies I listened to while growing up, has just made it so much more difficult for me to... to something. I don't know.

I think I'm still looking for that guy who'll let me know I'm not alone if I ever Crash and Burn, as well as that person who'll try to Fix [Me] when I feel lost, who'll make me wonder why I Never Saw Blue Like That before. All of that and more.

Is "the one" really out there? Or even several "ones"? Or am I being foolish in not wanting to settle?

Let me just clarify that I'm not looking to get married right here, right now. The thought of getting married now frightens me, much less the thought of settling down and raising kids. But I do want to get married someday... and for that relationship to last a lifetime, increasingly rare an occurrence as that may be.