Untitled Document The other night I went to my friend’s annual birthday party. As I drove to Hollywood, I was reminded of last year’s drive. I was talking to my friend Leila (name changed) about a guy she had just started seeing. After a few dates, she had to go out of town for 10 days. He said he would miss her and wondered if she could come back sooner. She said she couldn’t but would call him on Tuesday night when she got back.



He didn’t answer when she called after her trip so she left a message to let him know she was back in town. Did he return her call on Tuesday? No. Did he call her on Wednesday? No! Did he call her on Thursday? No! He finally called on Friday and said he didn’t get her message. Yeah, right.



Okay, so let’s pretend we believe him. If he didn’t get her message and was so anxious for her to get back that he asked her to cut her trip short, wouldn’t he have picked up the phone on Wednesday to see if she was back?



My girlfriend wondered what she should do. I told her that if he was really interested in her, he would have called sooner, especially since he tried to get her to cut her trip short. I asked her what type of relationship she was looking for – casual or long term? She chose the latter and I said that she needed to move on, because this guy was currently not available for that.



A few weeks after our discussion, she went home to Oklahoma (state changed) for the holidays. She ran into a guy she had met many years earlier, before she moved to Los Angeles. As soon as she saw him she said she was filled with joy and knew that she absolutely had to talk to him. Leila has never been one to approach a guy, even one she knew, but somehow this felt different.



Long story short, Leila became engaged to this guy several months later and they will be married at the end of the month, almost a year to the day they met up again. She told me that had they tried to date when she first met him in the ’90s, it probably wouldn’t have worked, because she had her heart set on moving to Los Angeles and he was happy in Oklahoma.



So, why am I telling you this story? I’m doing it because I believe there are a lot of "Leilas" out there. Leila is beautiful, intelligent, classy and sweet. She had no problem getting dates and even dated a few celebrities. However, like a lot of women in her position, she couldn’t seem to find "the one." In one year she met (for the second time) and married the man she had been waiting for.



If you’re reading this and not having much luck with your love life, keep Leila in mind. In just one month, she went from a dead end situation to meeting up with the man that would become her husband. Little did she know when she headed back to Oklahoma for Christmas in 2005 that her life was about to totally change. Often, it’s just a matter of timing. Don’t give up. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.



REMEMBER: Love inspires, empowers, uplifts and enlightens.



Write to Lucia at: http://www.theartoflove.net



Watch Lucia’s show, "The Art of Love", on Adelphia East Valley Public Access (Channel 25) on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 8 p.m.



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