Second, before I met my wife, I thought I’d be alone for a long time. I had broken off an engagement and thought I was pretty bad at all this love stuff. But, I realized that even if I was going to be alone, I knew it might not always be that way. I decided to become a pragmatic optimist, work on being comfortable alone and keep an eye out for the possibility of love. It must have worked, because I’m happily married and have a great wife and son. I think the being comfortable with myself was the key. Once I got to a point where I could be happy in my own skin and not be overcome by loneliness (well, not often), I was ready to get out there and put myself on the line, because (other than run-on sentances) I knew that rejection wasn’t scary anymore. I was fine being alone, therefore if someone didn’t like me, that was OK.