The Catch-at-22

After graduating from college, from the time you are 22 to when you say “I do” – could not resist the rhyme – your challenge in terms of romantic interest is not merely meeting people but having each party find the time for one another. Because if you think about it – we all lead busy lives to varying degrees, and each person copes with it differently.

Between a full day of work and its resulting exhaustion Monday through Friday, trying to get in a decent gym session or run, going out with your friends, keeping in touch with your increasingly scattered social network, perhaps taking night classes for graduate school or entrance exams, all on top of wanting nothing more than to do nothing at all – when exactly are we supposed to squeeze in a date? What are you willing to sacrifice to make room for it? How do you evaluate whether this month’s interest is worth that seemingly invaluable time?

Here’s the catch-at-22 of how the war of winning someone’s leisure time plays out (or doesn’t):

You are really busy, so you treasure leisure time and try to make the most of it by prioritizing. In order for someone to win a spot in these limited free hours, a certain level of genuine interest must exist. However, you cannot ascertain your degree of interest without investing time in someone. But, you do not want to gamble and sacrifice your time for someone you aren’t sure is worth it.

So, what do you do?