24 Dates in 24 Days

By Cassidy Simpson

Internet Dating in the most naked form.The horrors and humours of internet dating. I set out to meet a mate, companion, friend, partner and found desperados, swingers, commercial daters, scammers, chancers and con artists. You never know who you are really talking to on the net until you meet face to face and who you are sitting with and who was presented digitally are two vastly different people.
A must read for anyone who has ever dated on the net or thinking about meeting people on the net. You will meet many people but ultimately you will meet yourself. You may have thought you had it all worked out, what you wanted in your life until dating on the net shows you exactly what you don't ever want to be, to see or be perceived as. 24 dates will open your eyes to a world that runs parallel to our own every minute of the day yet we just don't see it until we are in the net. How many people are sitting in a restaurant next to you who you think are couples but are they? Are they also in the net?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cassidy Simpson
• Release date: Jul 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9780994700407

Cassidy Simpson

I began writing this series during the period I was dating, began as a journal more than anything else. When looking back on it I realised that I could write the book. The first of the series was published in a magazine version and the response to it was overwhelming. I adapted the magazine version to a book series but then decided it would appeal to many more as a serialised and boxed set, rather than to have one very long book, have shorter entertaining episodes. If I had to do it all again today, the dating...would I? After having lived through 24 dates, I fully understand peoples hesitancy at getting back on the horse and meeting other people through the networks. I do not think I would have the courage to repeat it all, while you are in the moment, you just go for it, looking back, well I suppose that is why we can look back on many things in our lives. We outlived them. I hope everyone who reads the series finds something in it for themselves, something they can relate to as I absolutely believe they will.

Book preview

24

Dates

in

24

Days

ISBN : 978 0 620 63994 1

SERIES

BOOK 1

By : CASSIDY SIMPSON

Published by Writersink

Distributed by Smashwords

Copyright 2016

Dedicated to No. 25

"The One"

I married

I walked through, over and around many to find you,

I would do it all over again if it brought the same result,

You inspire me to do everything I am hesitant to do,

you motivate me to challenge myself,

and you protect me from all I fear.

Sacred Dreams

All relationships change the people who are in them.~

Nobody goes through the fire trial of romantic love and comes out the same on the other side.

In fact, I would argue that for a relationship to last in the long-term— for two differing individuals to do the hard work of unpacking their own souls so they can better understand each other and live together in harmony healthy change is essential.

So I believe a more fitting question would be, what is healthy change, and what isn’t?

Healthy change:

Brings you closer to understanding the truth about yourself.

Leads you to confront your darkness, and figure out how to deal with it.

Leads you to recognize detrimental thought patterns and attitudes that sabotage your own potential for fulfilment.

Can be extremely difficult and painful in the beginning, but rewards you with the power of self-knowledge and the joy of self-actualization.

Unhealthy change, on the other hand makes you feel disconnected from your true self; your identity becomes what you think your partner wants you to be.

Makes you more fearful of, and insecure about, the dark places inside you.

Leads you to smother, repress or ignore your own needs.

May bring you temporary, superficial gratification, but becomes increasingly painful and difficult to sustain.

Some examples of each:

Unhealthy change is silencing yourself about important topics to avoid a fight. Healthy change is examining the deep-seated reasons that fights happen, and learning to communicate better with your partner.

Unhealthy change is stifling your personality so your partner doesn’t think you’re flirting with others.

Healthy change is exploring your own attitudes to trust, jealousy and boundaries, and finding out if they are compatible with your partner’s.

Unhealthy change is suppressing your libido, or regularly having sex when you don’t want to. Healthy change is discovering what you want from a sexual relationship, and having frequent, open-hearted discussions with your partner about both of your needs.

Unhealthy change is giving up on your dreams, aspirations, hobbies, for a relationship. Healthy change is determining why these things are important to you, how highly you want to prioritize them, and whether you can find a comfortable balance between your personal interests and your relationship.

Those look like three nice, neat and easy lists. So we’re done, right?

Not so fast.

There are a few other important things to think about:

Unhealthy change is not about being stuck in a bad relationship.

It’s about you.

It might be tempting to blame unhealthy change on a selfish partner, and certainly some people’s approach to relationships will encourage this. But you are the only one who can choose what kind of change you will undergo.

People allow themselves to undergo unhealthy change when they are afraid: afraid of losing the relationship, afraid of being alone, afraid of confronting the truth about themselves. Unhealthy change can take place even in the context of an otherwise positive relationship if one or both partners lack the awareness or will to deeply examine the hidden parts of their own psyche.

With one exception: People in abusive relationships who fear for their own or their children’s physical safety often have to bend to the demands of their abuser as a survival strategy. This is not meant in any way to blame victims of abuse for doing whatever they need to do to stay safe.

Healthy change will not ensure a happy relationship.

I believe that healthy change is necessary for a happy relationship. But healthy change can take place within an unworkable relationship, too—and may in fact be the catalyst that brings that chapter to an end.

Also, the fact that one person may be ready to enact healthy change within their relationship does not always mean their partner will be ready as well.

Change never ends.

Change, healthy or otherwise, is an uncomfortable process, and many people avoid it until they are dragged through its door by circumstances that