Red flags

This week has me thinking about all of the red flags I have ignored in the past......in the hopes that if I ignored my screaming intuition, things would change.....a person might be better than what I am seeing.....and some of them are cringeworthy really, yikes! But....I also suppose that it is not all cringey, if I really think of it.....because my overlooking those things, or talking myself out of those things, was my willingness to see the goodness in a human....the light.....to offer grace in the dark.....and while this chapter finds my eyes much more open, I can still be subject to that stuff......wanting to believe a story to the contrary......wanting so badly to believe in humans and their goodness, and goodness toward me.....but some people don't have pure intentions.....especially if their propensity is deception....so they don't move from the places I do, and it is harder to spot for me.....because I do not seek to deceive ever.....pretty much an open book, out there for the world to read.....so as I embark on my midlife dating journey.....red flags are a tough one....keeping an eye out....making sure I am keeping my eyes open....not being subject to "tomfoolery" anymore.....and when you have been single for as long as I have, or in my position, you need to temper red flag surveillance, with some grace...because the other side of the coin, is my lack of willingness to put up with anything.....not wanting to accept anything that steals my joy.......having been so saturated with so many things that are in the never pile.....that I need to resist becoming too hard too....seeing a hint of a flag and running.....so yea right...not easy for sure......A fine dance of the two.....and maybe this whole train of thought is moot....and when I find HIM.....there won't be the need for either extreme in me......it will be like the "just right" porridge lol:) no extremes present.....no deceptive places....no red flags.....no need to just accept whatever...that actually sits and sounds pretty great this morning...however it is the peace and freedom I feel when I make a decision that always shows me it was necessary...sweet clarity....that sometimes gets buried underneath of other things....but I have found clarity always finds its way....in the 11th hour....fighting to the surface to be seen........before a person can make another mistake.....so yea red flags are a part of mid life dating, no doubt.....and they are something I need to be vigilant about, in spite of my understanding nature....but when I can push past the smoke and mirrors...the funhouse, I am pleased when it becomes crystal clear.....and who knows, someday....I might be sitting next to somebody, typing my blog, feeling the gift of green flags;-) Tons of them.......Because they exist too:) Happy Thursday:)