1. The texting games. For you, words of affirmation are everything and having to wait a few hours to text back, or keeping your messages short and cool is your worst nightmare because you have so much more you would like to say and you hate that responding immediately makes you look ‘too available.’

2. The casual hangouts. You want your first date to be somewhere romantic, with a lot of time for long and deep conversations. You don’t want to just grab coffee and talk about trivial things or meet for a quick lunch. Unfortunately the first few dates will not be romantic and this is something that secretly frustrates you.

3. Options. You hate the fact that the person you’re interested in is probably seeing other people and you would like to be the only one because when you like someone, you usually don’t date other people. So you like this concept to be reciprocated.

4. Waiting to have ‘the talk.’ It comes naturally to you to say how you feel, even if it’s too early, so you’re always caught between wanting to say how you feel and waiting for the right moment when the other person is ready or if you’re sure they feel the same way.

5. The inconsistency. Nothing drives you crazy like inconsistency does. You want consistent communication, consistent dates and you want to be a part of this person’s everyday life — not just on weekends.

6. Ghosting. As a hopeless romantic, you like to romanticize break ups too, you like to have one final conversation and one final kiss before you say goodbye. So being ghosted is not something you can just wrap your head around. Being left without closure and a bunch of unanswered questions is the one thing you cannot accept and the one thing you will never comprehend.

7. The lack of passion. You don’t understand how someone can easily hook up with and date multiple people at the same time. For you, even dating should be passionate. Being ‘chill’ or indifferent with the people you like will always be something you struggle with. Playing it cool is a game you hate playing.

8. Social media. You can’t get over the very random like that you saw this morning on someone else’s selfie, or the flirtatious comment left on someone else’s picture, or adding someone attractive on Facebook. Your mind will always think of the worst case scenario because you never know if it’s platonic or something more.

9. No Labels. Everything is left undefined, you can’t even say you’re dating someone you’ve been hanging out with for months because it’s not entirely true but it’s not entirely false either. You can’t say if he/she likes you because they haven’t really confessed that to you yet and you can’t say that you’re not single, because technically you are.

10. The fact that it rarely turns into a relationship. When you date someone, your goal is to be in a relationship with them eventually, you don’t date just because you’re bored or you’re just passing time. And more often than not, the other person is not looking for a relationship, so you have to walk away and do it all over again. Even if you hate it, you know you’re bound to get it right one day because you’re not going to settle for anything less than the love you’ve always dreamed about.