It is amusing how adolescent boys think they can see forever when it comes to attraction and interacting with adolescent girls, but in actuality, they can't see past the end of their "noses".
Somehow most people end up getting married. Somehow in the endless sea of humanity, most find someone that attracts them on multiple levels and they decide to make a committment. Of course, the statistics tell us that more than half of all marriages end in divorce. Of these folks, many will find love and marry again. Yet it is interesting how different the selection criteria are for men the second time around.
A few years pass after the divorce or the loss of a spouse and the dust settles. A new equilibrium is found. Likely an intricate pattern is deeply ingrained on his life. A few kids, a career, a mortgage and other debts, a circle of friends, and a particular lifestyle. There is also the important aspect of faith. All of this forms the backdrop for any future decisions on a potential spouse. Instead of a much simpler and decidedly naive list of criteria that were considered in the past, he now automatically considers income, education,
faith, mothering abilities, debt levels, baggage, and a host of other things. I would strongly venture that none of these even rated a stray thought the first time around. Now they are the dominant filter through which he views potential attraction. - Omega
(Part 2 of 2)
