There’s a common misconception that we need time to heal after a relationship goes south. But it doesn’t really help to wait, and we may never really be fully ready. In fact, our need to wait could be just be a fear-based protection mechanism, and we need to bust right through it! Here are 5 reasons to date right away after a breakup: 1. Because we need someone to love If we get laid off from a job, we don’t say to ourselves, "I need some time to recover from that job before I go look for another job." No! if we need a job, we keep searching until we find one. When it comes to a relationship, we may pride ourselves on not “needing a man”, which is fine, but we can all agree that it’s nice to have a companion to go through life with. There’s nothing wrong with wanting that for ourselves. We should get back out there and keep looking for that special person—the RIGHT one this time. 2. Because even if we’re not ready, we need practice If we are coming off a lengthy marriage or a long, horrible relationship, we may in fact need a little time to recover. Still, we can go out on dates, if only to practice our dating skills (check out my new free course “First Date Mastery”, if you need some help with that).  If we’ve been off the market for a while, we may find that dating has changed and we need to get used to it again. Some of us haven’t dated since the pre Internet. We need to get back out there! Practice, practice, practice, so that when Mr. Right comes along we don’t mess it up. 3. We may never be ready in the way we expect If we wait until we feel fully confident, or even until we have reached a certain physical appearance, such as an exact weight, we may never get back out there. We should put our best foot forward and go out on dates as soon as possible. Life really never gets to be problem free anyway; we might as well live it. On dates, we simply stash all our negative thoughts away in a corner of our brain, put on our heels and a short skirt, and smile. We should act as if. 4. So that guy doesn’t mess up our life even more than he already has Ok, nearly everyone who reaches a certain age has some type of horrible relationship story to tell. That guy we were dating who slept with our best friend for months while he was also sleeping with us. That man who denigrated us over many years and shattered our self-esteem. That man who implied we were on the marriage track, got us pregnant, and then changed his mind (I haven’t been through all of those scenarios, but I’ve been through one of them!). Yes, we all have a story. What’s the best way to really stick it to that guy? The best way is to find our Mr. Right and stay blissfully in love for the rest of our life. That’s what I did at age 45 and you can too. I know it. Let me tell you, when you meet the right guy, you will THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS for things not working out with the wrong guy. 5. Because we all only have so much time The trouble with life is that it’s short, and the passing days seem to speed up the older we get. It’s unlikely that we will meet our Mr. Right if we go out on one date, but it’s very likely we will if we go out on let’s say, 10 dates with 10 different men (moving on immediately, if it’s not a match). We all aren’t getting any younger. We all deserve to be with the right man, and that right man exists no matter who we are. We just have to believe AND take action. Our chances of meeting Mr. Right are actually unaffected by our past relationships, but one thing is for sure: if we sit at home while life passes us by, we’ll never meet him. How much time do we have to waste? So get back out there! Again, you may find my free online course, First Date Mastery, helpful if you haven't dated in a while. Wishing you love and happiness, Kate Junwald www.katejunwald.com