Fishing for Men

Being a single person at my age, often makes folks scratch their heads in wonder. Perhaps,like many do after fishing all day and having caught not one thing. Most do not understand. Think that i might have some sort of intimacy issue, or need some sort of therapy to find out why! The truth is all a Fish Tale, if you will! Our world is swimming with Dating Websites!!! (Actually I think it is drowning in them!) In researching a bit for this blog entry, I was surfing the net for the top sites. Mind you.. I came up with 5 "REALLY BIG ONES".... and then I realized as I cast my line for more options to explore that in fact is was overflowing! Carpe Diem, might in fact be translated as "fish of the day" afterall!!! And that is no fish story!!! Match.com, eharmony, Christian Mingles or Singles??( I forget which one it is, or in fact, both exist!) Our Time, (over 50 site), and such! However, in my search I had to dive to into the "other" sites a bit too. Here were a few I needed to "throw back"... Can I just say I personally dig, Meeting Millionaires, (except they REALLY check your green back status!) The Ugly Bug Ball.com (Oh lord.. "This fish" is too shallow to swim in those waters!). Cougarlife sounded kinda fun. I thought I might join JDate, as Jews & Christians have more in common than not and the personals are hilariously depressing & sarcastic. Then I got to thinking how Holy Week would be our "fish or cut bait" moment each year. And then there was my personal fav.... OnlineBootyCall.com. And of course where all this fishy-ness is leading, is to the site, Plenty of Fish.com, aka...POF! Honestly, until a friend recently told me she was fishing in this pond, I would have never known it to exist. I'm simply, "dead in the pan," when it comes to thinking we go fishing for fiances, flames, fanciers, or even friends with benefits! (Philanders it seems more like!) It's just me, I am sure. I know plenty of nice folks who have found love in all the right places from casting their nets. But for me, it doesnt seem to make sense. If fishing websites, I mean dating sites work then why are so many people on them all the time?? Why do the pools of opportunities seem to grow larger instead of smaller?? If they are meant to help us narrow down our search, it only seems to expand? the oceans are vast, and the fish are plenty.... Ill tell you why.. becuase a fish and bird may find love, but where do they live???? Has fishing changed? Or the fish?? Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting.We are a fickle society now. I often wonder how and why those that have been fishing for mates for thousands of years did it before technology ever did it? Were they fishing in the right rivers? Sometimes.. and sometimes fish were caught to just be eaten. Were they more successful? Were they catching fish when they cast every time? We were obviously a different society then. One that married for reasons, and purpose. Perhaps societal pressure, arranged unions, and the knowledge that our catch of the day,... was just that. We have been afforded so much in life now that the choices are confusing. We are informed that certain fish are better than others for us. Personally, I love cod. It's light and flaky, yet healthy! It's perfect lightly breaded or plain, and not terribly expensive. It doesn't require me to purchase a special wooden pallet for it to lie upon, and it looks lovely next broccoli! Salmon, on the other hand, is considered full of omega-rich vitamins, but it also very oily, gives me a stomach ache, and again, the word "rich" comes to mind. Whatever floats your boat I suppose is right? The right catch for you. The real issue however, is not about how we go about finding a good hole to go fishing in. Because, you cannot catch trout with dry breeches! One must be willing to do the work in order to prepare the fish for the feast! Most do not like that part. It requires getting your hands dirty after a catch! I think there are finite types of fishermen. They fish in only a few ways. I don't think we need hundreds of websites to define who and what we like and are. For many, the charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. Then the thrill of the hunt is over. Time to throw back what we have and try again. That simply does not work for me! And sadly, I think I have been caught and thrown back more times than I care to mention. Fishermen who think with their flys! Another type of fishermen is one who fishes for fish and not for sport. They've caught their "whopper" and now go fish for the fun of fishing. Throw back what they can't keep, and happily go home at the end of the day. And then there is a type that I mostly resonate with. The fishermen who walks out slowly in high waters and waders, trepedaciously and careful not to splash and scare them all off. Thinks nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught! The reality for me it often has turned out to be more of... The one that got away... In the end! When my friend and I discussed the POF website, (her 2nd or 3rd exhibition). I asked her if she should stop going up stream and let the river come to her?? She agreed. Why in fact, she is a busy career gal with much on her plate already. Perhaps too many fish swimming around her were preventing her from seeing the right catch. Indeed, ... and that she didn't need to keep returning to the same pool or school. Perhaps there was another way? Keeping her eyes on her fries,(Fish and Chips perhaps), was more the hook she needed to be casting and staying with. She asked me well then what?? She, as myself are both very spiritually- minded gals, so I wasn't telling her a another Fish Story when I offered that she buy the bait of all bait. The Ultimate Fish... And that being God. She smiled in text format :) I said, why don't you let God tell you where to cast your net much like he did to Peter that fine morning. Remember, Peter and the others had been fishing all night, and had caught nothing. They were exhausted, and hardly prepared to go right back out and fish again. Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, I am too tired, I have been fishing all night and have caught nothing, what makes you think I will catch something now?" And Jesus replies, " Simon Peter, place your net to the right of this boat." AT once the nets were filled to abundance! Obviously the "right", not just the "starboard side", but the "right side". God wants your trust that He has your back! He will wear your vest with lures and He will provide your feast. And not to worry... God would never give you a salmon if that is what makes your stomach ache! God already knows what you can eat that works for you digestion! Some may argue this point with me, by offering, Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish. However, I choose GOD as my fishsite. Jesus, tells us that nothing is impossible with God, so why do we think we need to go out and do a better job than God can for us?? This girl has stopped fly-fishing, hung up her pole, taken off her waders and hook-woven hat, stopped telling fish tales of the one that got away,and traded them all for a good, strong net. I am tired, much like Peter, but will wait for her casting call patiently. And remember, both on the water and with God the RIGHT side is always the green light! <>-<