What is the cost of settling?
After subjecting myself to a string of men who didn't appreciate me, I was asked on a date by a millionaire. The good kind of millionaire; the millionaire philanthropist. Not the millionaire capitalist. He was nominated for a do-gooder award and flying in for one night. Although we didn't know each other personally, we worked in similar industries and a series of unexpected circumstances lead to him asking me to join him at the award gala.
I'll never forget my trip to meet him in the 5-star hotel where he was staying, a hotel with the highest ceilings I'd ever seen and marble floors that reflected back to me the face of a country girl dipping her toes into the big city. He liked that about me. I had the appearance of being wholesome. On my way, I looked up at the sky and there was a rainbow. No lie. Light refracting excitement into the sky, a spectrum of colour.
I wore a sequin dress from Nordstrom Rack- nude. The colour of foreshadowing. Half price and so far from his Armani suit that we weren't just shopping in different stores, we were existing in different worlds. It was comforting to discover the back of his suit jacket has a tiny hole in it. It was small, but it was an imperfection nonetheless.
It was a dazzling date I'll never forget. Being wined and fine dined, sitting at the head table with this gorgeous man and CEOs, the chairman of the board, and award-winning journalists. Politicians and policymakers. He introduced me around freely and proudly. Showed me off. Took care of me. Was proud to be with me- ME! Me, who was normal, wholesome, ordinary, no one in his world. He was nominated for (and won!) an award but I was the most important thing on his agenda that evening. Yes, it was one night. But after that date, I was finished with those unappreciative men. I felt a surge of confidence, finally getting the attention I was craving. The part of me that needed someone who wanted me had been neglected for too long. It didn't matter that he had money. It mattered that I mattered to him, even if it was just for one night.
Ask yourself this: Who in my life isn't appreciating me? Who isn't listening? When was the last time I was shown off? Be confident enough to demand more. That guy who just wants to sleep with you, to Netflix and chill into oblivion, to him you're a growing hole in an Armani suit. You're left on read, you don't go out, you don't meet his family, you aren't 'official.' What is it going to take for you to stop settling for a man who isn't proud to be with you? Because a date with a millionaire builds confidence, but it's as rare as a rainbow.
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