Crazy in Love and 5 Red Flags

Last night I was Toastmaster at a meeting of Laughing Matters Toastmasters, my club here in Austin. I picked the theme of "Young Love"-- and felt quite insecure about handling such a broad topic. I was too many years removed from "puppy love" to summon any insights.

Whoa... what do I do? Who do you call? I called Ken, my comedy consultant.

Ken encouraged me to think about the pitfalls of falling in love.

* We get little clues in the early stages of relationships, red flags.
* We barely notice the red flags, even though they indicate trouble down the road.
* We ignore the red flags because of infatuation, our crazy love, with the new person.

Things to consider about the other person when you're in the early stages of falling in love--  some areas include:

1) Money-- do they pay bills?
2) Relationship history-- did this new lover date married people in the past?
3) The Law-- did they call the cops on an ex-boyfriend? You could be next.
4) Language-- do they cuss like a sailor? not good
5) Addiction-- do they drink, do drugs? Pay attention to this red flag.

Ken's guidance was helpful. Everybody has a relationship story to tell. Toastmasters is all about participation of the entire group. I resolved to bring everybody into the conversation.

Remember to pay attention to those red flags in the early days of a relationship. Sure you're wearing the rose-colored glasses. You're crazy in love but try to be objective. See the other person more clearly and save yourself some grief further down the road.