Chances are, your social life is starting to look a bit different lately.
A lot of activities we’ve all taken for granted are quickly becoming not an option for us, whether by choice or by mandate.
If your favorite way to meet new people to date is in person, this current health crisis is most likely getting in the way–and it looks like it will continue to get in a way for some time.
But just because we’re facing a lot of new rules that make sure we’re social distancing to curb the spread of Coronavirus, that doesn’t mean you have to completely put your dating life on hold.
The good news is that even if you’re facing a quarantine in your home, modern technology can help you keep the lines of communication open.
You might be physically isolated, but you don’t have to be alone!
Here are four ways you can make the most of online dating while a lot of the outside world is shutting down over Coronavirus.
1. Be active and proactive
If you find yourself isolated, either by choice or by necessity for a quarantine, know that you’re not the only one. All across the nation, people are finding themselves unable to go out and do the things that they normally do.
This means that other singles like you suddenly have more time on their hands. Chances are likely that some of them will sign up for online dating accounts.
So if you’ve tried online dating before and found it not that fruitful, it might be a great time to try again.
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Even if you’ve felt like you’ve exhausted all the possibilities for potential matches on some online dating platforms, there just might be some singles out there who realize that now is the perfect time to explore online dating.
So start by getting back onto your favorite online dating platform, like CatholicSingles.com, and seeing whether there might be more potential dates for you than there have been in the past.
2. Try to keep things light
If you’ve looked on social media lately, you’ve probably seen a combination of posts about hygiene practices, stir-craziness, conspiracy theories, and panic-buying (and probably lots of memes about toilet paper hoarders).
But maybe you’ve also seen that one random person who’s talking about positive things happening right now.
Be that one random person.
As you try to connect with new people online, work to keep topics fun or uplifting. Remember that there’s no reason to spread any more negativity.
For example, don’t start off a message conversation by asking someone whether they know anyone who has died from Coronavirus.
Or as a less obvious example, you could try messaging them about something totally unrelated to the current health crisis.
If that seems just weird, considering how Coronavirus is taking over our lives, you could try to focus on one of the positive outcomes. Talk about new hobbies you’ve been interested in trying now that you can’t go out to crowded public activities.
Some people are quite stressed out by the current situation.
You might really stand out if you can raise their spirits up.
3. Embrace the challenges of distance
If you’ve never had a long-distance relationship before, or if you’ve struggled with one in the past, you might feel like the social distancing rules are going to make it impossible for you to really connect with someone.
This doesn’t necessarily have to be the case.
It’s true that meeting someone in person typically makes you able to connect with them in a way that’s different from conversing with them online or on the phone.
But that doesn’t mean that long-distance communication isn’t useful in getting to know someone.
If you meet someone online who you seem to connect with and you’re eager to go meet with them in person, you can take this opportunity to dig deeper into getting to know more about one another.
It might be hard to put off that first in-person meeting, but it could actually be a great test of how well you can communicate using only words, without getting sick of one another.
In any romantic relationship, there will be times when you’re not able to do the things you would like to do with the other person.
In a serious dating relationship, chastity requires us to sacrifice and wait to fulfill our sexual desire for one another.
Even in a married relationship, there are many times when a husband and wife have to sacrifice some fun activities they’d like to do together, or even when they have to abstain from having sex at times.
So if the very early stages of your dating relationship is facing a restriction from meeting in person right now, try to look at it as an opportunity to see how well you’re able to sacrifice together.
Get creative to make the most of the situation for your growth as a couple.
4. Focus on your faith
We’re all facing frustrating situations, for innumerable reasons. But don’t despair. Don’t forget that God has it all under control.
As you work to make the most of this time in your dating life, surrender the reigns of everything over to God.
The world is confusing. Some aspects of our lives are uncertain. But we always have God, even if your public Mass has been canceled.
Don’t be like the rest of the world, panicking with no way to make sense of the suffering. Make a willful act of faith in God, no matter how dreary things might look for you.
Ask God to take care of you, even in matters that might seem trivial like you’re dating life. He cares deeply for even these small aspects of our lives, and he is eager for us to turn to him in everything.