As Christmas fast approaches, it can stir up within us a whole plethora of emotions. Christmas can bring back memories of very happy times shared with loved ones over the years, but sometimes, for some of us, the Christmas season reminds us of less happy moments, or of the loss of loved ones who will not be with us this year, so Christmas can also be a time for sadder reflections.
For those of us who live alone, as more and more of us do, any feelings of loneliness may sting that little bit more during the festive season. Being single and unattached, you may have gone through the year keeping yourself pretty busy and active, but find the days over Christmas may drag and do not give you so much to feel upbeat about. Whilst the television is becoming ever fuller of Christmas adverts featuring happy Christmas gatherings in brightly decorated homes and a table groaning with food, anticipating sitting down to a meal for one perhaps doesn’t quite measure up to the sparkle and joy that the advertising industry may like to suggest is all around us at this time of the year.
Numerous polls have shown there are millions of adults living in the UK wishing they had someone to spend time with at Christmas, with a recent government survey showing around 6% of the population is expecting to be on their own on Christmas day this year, a day many of us still regard as one that is best being shared with others.
So, with Christmas now firmly on our radar, your thoughts may be turning to meeting someone new, maybe to find some Christmas romance and perhaps a little Christmas magic to come your way too. Are you wondering if now really is the time for you to put yourself out there to meet someone new to date over Christmas and beyond? If so, then how do you put your best foot forward and take some positive steps that could help make this happen? Here below, we have given 5 key steps you might want to consider taking, towards dating someone new this Christmas.
1. Make Sure You Are in the Right Mindset to Date This Christmas
It pays just to take a moment to consider if you have your head in the right place to make the most of dating someone new this Christmas. Ensure you have given yourself the time and space that it can need to process any hurt and difficult emotions that might be remaining from a previous relationship, to be well placed to connect with someone new. If you have gone through a painful breakup in the past, you do not want to let any feelings from that overshadow a potential future romantic connection that could develop with someone new. The fear of potentially getting hurt again can be a major barrier to your dating success when looking for a new partner, so if you are going to step out and meet new people, then be ready to be brave and to be positive as you embark on what could lead on to an exciting next stage in your life.
For your best chance of dating success, do also be open minded. It’s important you look for someone who is compatible and where your lifestyles can fit together, but try not to be too prescriptive in your ideas as to who to date. Avoid too many pre-formed ideas as to what will make someone compatible. Aim to date others where you can see some clear positives that they have rather than only if they meet a long checklist. Remember that dating, even at Christmas, starts with a just first date where you have the opportunity of seeing if you might be compatible enough to want to discover more about this person, and for the two of you to decide if you think it’s worth dating again to explore the possibilities further.
2. Unlock the Key to Dating Happiness by Embracing Self-Love
Feeling good about yourself and how you appear to others is important when entering the dating scene, or indeed at any time. Has it been too long since you last updated your hairstyle or bought some new clothes that were not just for the office or the gym? Spend time and energy on yourself now to ensure you are happy with how others see you, as first impressions can be key to success when dating. Presenting yourself at your best will also give you greater inner confidence and this confidence can really help in attracting others to you.
3. Say Yes to Festive Invitations: Meet More New People
Maybe you are not one of life’s natural extroverts and prefer not to mix with larger crowds? Or perhaps you are not feeling excited about going to a function you’ve been to a number of times over the years, or nervous to go to something you’ve not experienced before? However, when it comes to finding someone to date, the more people you do mix with and the more social occasions you say yes to, the greater will be your chances of finding someone who could be that perfect person to start dating over the Christmas holidays.
Party invites do come along, clubs and societies tend to have a Christmas get together, and if any of these invitations could present the opportunity of meeting new people, then say yes and go! This approach will widen your circle, thereby increasing the opportunities you will have for dating.
You might even decide to host a little festive gathering of your own at this time of the year for friends and neighbours. Could you ask those you trust to bring along any single friends they think you might like to meet or use this as a way to get to know people better, where there has not been much of an opportunity to say hello with the busy lives we tend to lead outside of the Christmas period?
4. Online Dating: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Beyond taking the simple measure of going out whenever the opportunity presents itself, there are a lot of online dating sites and apps available that you might consider using. Some of these are free to use and they may have a lot of profiles of others. The plus points with online dating are that these apps and websites can have many other single people who are using them and who are also looking for someone to date over Christmas. The downsides may already be very apparent to you if you have tried online dating before and it didn’t work for you.
Unfortunately, online dating is not a very secure or confidential way of meeting others, so has some inherent risks as a way of meeting new people, and it might use up a lot of your time in messaging someone you were hoping to meet, who may then simply just fade away. Perhaps that person was never serious about actually meeting you, or they were constantly being distracted by others also using the dating platform and sadly, the behaviour of ghosting is all too common with online dating. An article in Psychology Today in 2023 cited ghosting as being on the increase, particularly with online dating, leaving people feeling abandoned and questioning their desirability. Ghosting also leaves us with questions simply left unanswered, which we find hard to deal with.
The typical format of online dating can actually dehumanise connections, it being so easy on these dating platforms for some people to simply ignore messages we send via the app or dating website, and to simply vanish after raising our hopes, leaving only a bitter taste from the whole experience.
Of course, you might actually arrange to date others through online dating, but you could find that on meeting up, that they are many years older than they said they were, physically very different from their photographs or in other ways, very far removed from the profile that attracted you in the first place.
5. Try a Secure, Professional Matchmaking Service
If you are serious about finding someone not only to date this Christmas, but who may become your lasting partner for the future, you may now want to try working with a professional matchmaker. Established and successful professional matchmaking companies such as Attractive Partners, have access to other singles, usually of a much higher calibre than the average profile you might come across through typical online dating websites, and those who are using the services of a professional matchmaker are usually looking to find the right person for an exclusive and committed lasting relationship. If this is what you are also looking for rather than casual encounters, then this may be a better option.
A professional matchmaking service is very different to online dating, tending to focus more on quality than quantity with the prospective matches it can put forward for you. Those who engage with professional matchmaking are able to focus on each and every prospective match they are presented with, rather than facing lots of indiscriminate options such as with online dating, where the other parties may only be seeking casual connections or not genuine.
If aiming to date someone new this Christmas, why not contact our dating experts at no obligation, and decide whether their personal matchmaking service might be your best option. Approaching a matchmaking company now means there is every possibility of dating someone new over the festive season who could become your future partner. Start your journey with Attractive Partners today!
