shopping for The One

I was with my girlfriends when one of them brought up her boyfriend of years. She loves him dearly but has one hang up she couldn't get over; he just wasn't who she pictured marrying. I thought about how Bionic Woman always says to me, "You don't get to choose who you love." But I think a lot of women have that same hang up. They are dating somebody who is great but when it comes to the man they want to marry, they had perhaps pictured someone more handsome, taller, or richer.

I'm sure everyone has a mental checklist of someone they're looking for. As a girl continues to see a guy and learn more about him, she continues to mark checks on the list. But what if someone great falls short a few checks?

Another girlfriend told me to apply the same rule we use when we go shopping. "You need to ask yourself what do you need versus what you want," she told me. "Do you need him to be 6 ft tall? Or would that just be nice?" Applying this shopping rule actually puts the checklist into perspective. We don't need everything that's on the checklist.

My girlfriend, Kate, listened to my checklist and told me bluntly, "That guy doesn't exist. You're not gonna find someone who has everything on that list." Another friend chimed in, "Nobody's perfect. My husband's not perfect. But when it comes down to it, I just can't live without him." Something to think about definitely. Kate saw that I was still skeptical, as stubborn as I am, she read my defiant face that said, "I'll find Mr. Perfect and I'll show them!"

Kate looked at me and said in her as-a-matter-of-fact tone, "When you find this pipe dream of a man, you let me know."

I'm gonna do just that. I'll have this WANTED poster taped to every phone pole in NYC:

And when I find him I'm gonna ride around on my unicorn doing my victory lap.