What do you need?

We spend a lot of time thinking about what we want from a romantic relationship - tall, dark, handsome, blah, blah, blah.

But we rarely think about what we really need from a romantic partner and/or relationship.

I have started to really give some thought to this - thanks to A and his constant posing of questions.

So here are things I NEED from a romantic partner:

1. Someone who is better than me at handling finances. I am just not good at it, this does not mean I am not interested in improving - but improving myself takes all the energy I have - I need a man who already has this down.

2. Someone who is emotionally stable. I am a pretty emotional and impulsive person. I need someone who can ride with those ebbs and flows and still be OK. And again, this does not get me off the hook for being a flake - clearly I need to improve here, but I will never be an emotional rock.

3. Someone who knows how to be encouraging without sounding critical. My ego, due to past relationships with men, is pretty fragile. I want a partner who will help me and encourage me to improve in a way that doesn't bruise my ego.

4. Someone who is not jealous of my time. I have a lot of great friends and am involved with my charity and hobbies. It is important to me to still be able to pursue these. And my romantic partner is welcome to join me - but I don't require that. I just need for him to be understanding that these things are important to me. In return, I will understand the same for him.

This is my burgeoning list of needs. I'll try to keep working on it.

Take care, dear readers.