How much is too much?

I continue to struggle with how much time and effort I should put into my dating life. As a little girl I was told "Don't worry, your prince will come" and "You'll meet someone wonderful and you'll just know" as most little girls were told. I was lead to believe that fate would put someone in my life and it would just work out.

But let's be honest; it is a lot more complicated than that. And as I get older it gets more and more difficult. Did this person who was fated to be with me already come and go? Was I in tune to what was going on? Did I miss my one opportunity?

As technology continues to advance, more and more facets of meeting people open up; although a lot of them do not involve face to face contact or speech. So how much time is too much?

I have been on eharmony since July 2010. Signing up was my way of telling myself that I was "putting myself out there" and investing in finding a mate. On a weekly basis I get somewhere between 21 and 42 new matches. Usually about half of my new matches attempt to communicate with me.

I work on a computer all day so when I get home on weeknights I really don't want to spend more time looking at a computer screen. I usually check my matches on a weekly basis. By the time I have gone through all my new matches, weeding out those with dull likes/dislikes, short answers and bad pictures, two hours have passed.

And this doesn't include answering guided communication questions from new or current matches. I could spend an hour a day on this site easily.

But, again with the honesty, I feel like I have more important things to do. Like get out and experience some culture, not to mention human contact!

If the dating pool gets smaller as I get older and the quality of the "fish" gets worse, what chance do I have?! And if there is such a thing as fate, how much time is too much?

Do I believe that there is someone out there that will love me as much as I love them? Sure. Does being somewhat jaded blur my vision? Absolutely.

In all reality, there is no clear answer. I will continue to think positive, recognize all the great things that I have to offer, become more aware of myself and those around me and step out of my comfort zone!