Opt For The Upgrade

These days, everything comes with class: Airline tickets, concert seats, even our cars. In many cases, you get what you pay for. Still, you can have a lot more if you're willing to pay a premium. Yet, when it comes to dating, a quality experience is all up to chance. Wouldn't it be great if better quality men came along for just a little more time and attention than you already give? Not satisfied? All you'd have to do is make one more phone call or add a sweet text or killer mid-week date for the caliber of man to skyrocket. In reality, dating doesn't work that way.

It's true, majority of the single guys out there have no class. If they did, we wouldn't crave the relationship drama of the Noah's Arc's and Sex and The City's or share our own tales with friends. Still, that's not to say they don't exist. They do.

Where many of us trip and tumble is our willingness to give more than the situation calls for. In other words, the vault to our kindness is sometimes limitless and boundaries go limp when we push a guy's like button. When is a good time to ask if you're giving him more than you're willing to give yourself? And, when does his upgrade no longer matter, especially if you're riding in first class while he's comfortable in coach.

The fact is, even though dating and relationships can resemble transactions—your affection for his—they're not as simple as buying a rental upgrade, and for good reason: We're complicated orders. His past collides with yours. His present mashes with your future. There are an infinite number of combinations that can make (or break) a match. The best that you can do is take yourself off of the standby list and stay in the priority lane. Trust that he'll match the effort you put forth and expect more than enticing discount choices. Above all, invest in yourself before giving him an all access pass to your time and affection.