Advice

Religious beliefs are an important consideration when it comes to partnering with the right person. If you're dating someone with strict religious beliefs, regardless of whether or not you share the same religion, there could be challenges. For instance, let's say you are both Christian. He attends services every Sunday without fail and is active in his church, but you prefer a more personal relationship with God. Is this going to be a problem down the line?

It's important to decide for yourself if religion will play an important role with the people you date. Are you looking to have some fun or for a short-term relationship, or something more substantial, like marriage? If you're looking for fun, then it's not so important to find someone who shares the same religion.

One of my readers recently asked me how she should meet men. She is a devout Mormon, and got out of a three-year relationship with a man who was not Mormon, and not particularly religious. Their relationship came to a point where she couldn't see it moving forward successfully, so they broke up.

She told me that she preferred to date outside of her religion, and that she was most attracted to men who weren't Mormon. "But I really want to marry a Mormon!" she added.

This isn't unusual. Many people are attracted to others who don't share the same faith. And it's fine to pursue relationships in these cases, as long as you are both on the same page about the future.

If she was looking to just have fun, dating outside her religion wouldn't hinder her search. But this isn't the case - she wants a husband, a partner. So it is important for her to make some tough choices.

When you date someone outside your religion, ask yourself if you are hoping to convert him/her. Some people are open to learning about other faiths and pursuing a religious practice in their lives, and others aren't. If he seems open to attending church or religious classes with you, great! But don't press the issue. It's important in matters of faith that each individual pursues what feels comfortable to him. It's a mistake to try to convert someone who isn't curious or interested in your religion for his own sake.

And if you are willing to date someone outside your religion, it's good to honestly look at the future. How will each of you spend your free time outside of work? Will he get resentful of the attention you give to your religious practice? Will he expect you to participate in his services? If you have children, how will you raise them?

These are all important questions in deciding how to pursue potential dates. While you might be attracted to people outside your religion, they might not be the best option if you're looking to marry.

Don't be afraid to be honest with your dates about where you stand. It will serve both of you in the long run.

Honesty may be the best policy, but it isn't always the policy adopted by online daters. Far from it, in some cases.

According to WhatsYourPrice.com founder and CEO Brandon Wade, lying about age or income are the most well-known fibs told on online dating profiles. But a new survey from his site reveals a less-common online lie: one in three dads lie on their online dating profiles about having kids.

A Father's Day survey of 2,500 male members of WhatsYourPrice.com found that approximately 32% have previously lied about having kids. The data looks like this:

• Total Average (2,500 surveyed): 32% lied
• Men Under 30 (1,250 surveyed): 51% lied
• Men Over 30: (1,250 surveyed): 12% lied

The most common types of lies were:

• Men claiming they didn't have kids: 96%
• Men claiming they do have kids: 3%
• Men claiming they have more/less kids: less than 1%

The survey also found that younger men are more likely to like about being dads than men who are over the age of 30. Wade posits that older men are not only more mature, but also more comfortable with the idea of being a parent. Older men no longer fear that their children will prevent them from being accepted by women.

The data all comes down to rejection, Wade suggests. The more afraid a man is that he will be turned down by a potential date, the more willing he will be to lie about himself. Of course, Wade also warns that lying "is actually a sure way of losing a partner" and notes that "Honesty is the most sexy thing when it comes to dating."

Fortunately, Wade believes a better world is on its way for dating dads. Single parents are more common than ever before, and parenthood is celebrated in today's society. Many women believe that a man who has a child is more mature and more capable of maintaining a long-term relationship than a man who has never had that kind of responsibility.

"With those who are honest, you're going to attract women who don't mind the fact that you are a parent or a father," Wade adds. "It's sort of a strange oxymoron thing: these guys think that by lying they actually get better results, when in fact the opposite is true."

That's nice and all, but...is it just me, or was that survey a really crummy way to celebrate Father's Day?

When it comes to the first date, one phrase that might leap to mind is “dress to impress.” However, while we all want to make a great first impression, perhaps literally “impressing” isn’t the goal we want to strive for. It may seem a small, even insignificant difference to quibble over, but let’s consider what images the two words conjure up, and the differences between them.

What do we think about when we think about impressing someone? We’d definitely want to be dressed nicely, perhaps even a little glamorous or formal. As for the venue, it might be something very fancy - a nice restaurant, the opera - or maybe something very dramatic, like fantastic seats to a rock concert or baseball game. Maybe it’s not something necessarily expensive, but creative, like an elaborate picnic in the most picturesque locale. Time, money - either way, something has been spent to create a dazzling effect.

Now, obviously, not many people are going to be going quite that extreme on their first date. However, the mindset can still reflect the ideal. Maybe they’re pushing their budget a little, or acting slightly different in an effort to appear worldly. The problem with this approach is two-fold: first, they’re not truly being themselves, and thus making it more difficult to determine their compatibility with their date. Secondly, when someone is focused on impressing their date, they’re probably not spending as much effort actually listening to their date. A real connection becomes even harder to achieve.

But what about a good first impression? What might we think of then? Well, we tend to think of a more realistic image, but one that is probably more cleaned-up and polite. You want to look good, but not necessarily glamorous or over-the-top. You’re putting your “best face forward,” but it’s still yours, not that of someone you’re striving to be. The venue is less important, because we tend to think of a person as making a first impression, not staging an impressive event. And because you might subconsciously be more aware of your manners, you might even be a better listener and more conscientious date than usual.

It’s quite possible that your personal impressions of the two phrases are quite different; however, it doesn’t hurt to ask yourself what imagery you do have in your head when you prepare for a first date. Are you subconsciously trying to impress, or make a good first impression? Perhaps thinking it over might make the difference between a night of unnecessary stress and pressure, and one in which you can relax and focus on making a connection.

Are you harboring a secret crush on your friend? When the two of you are together, do you finish each other's sentences, make each other laugh, and you feel like you could tell him anything? Well, almost anything. You've never let him know how you really feel - that you are very attracted to him. Besides, he already has a girlfriend, maybe one that you like and don't want to hurt.

But let's consider something for a moment - the act of telling him you're in love with him. Sound scary? Then let's see what is really holding you back.

When you're falling in love with a friend, it's especially hard to admit it because you don't know what will happen. You risk losing your friendship. Or if he's taken, you also risk breaking up a couple who has history together. There are no easy answers.

Even though the best idea seems to be to stay the course - keep your friendship going, pretend that you don't have feelings for him, and go about your daily routine - after a while, it will start to wear you down. Because feelings don't just go away, especially when they are never spoken aloud. They just grow bigger, along with the silence, until it becomes overwhelming.

Please keep in mind: he will sense that you love him. Feelings between friends are more transparent than you think, no matter how much you try to hide them.

While it might seem impossible, I think you owe it to yourself to be honest about your feelings, to risk losing the friendship.

One of several things could happen: the feeling isn't mutual and he rejects you and cuts off the friendship, or he could be sneaky and ask to start seeing you behind his girlfriend's back (don't do this please), or he could admit his attraction and break it off with his girlfriend to get together with you. And while you don't know what he might choose, and that makes you feel powerless in the situation, you are actually the one with the power here. You are freeing yourself from the crush and a friendship that isn't serving you, no matter what he chooses. You want him as a boyfriend, not a friend. If he chooses to let you go, he's done you a favor. He's allowed you to grieve and move on to someone who will love you.

It's important to remember that in the long run, it's better to make a choice than to keep staying the course, flirting and getting hurt when he goes home to his girlfriend. If you really want to try a relationship together, you must both leave the friendship behind.

If the friendship is strong, it will resume in time. But first, you need to acknowledge your feelings and heal your heart. The problem isn't that he has a girlfriend, it's that neither of you are being honest with each other.

Is eHarmony the secret to a happy marriage?

eHarmony certainly thinks so.

We've been hearing a lot lately about the 'landmark' new study that says marriages that begin online are longer and more fulfilling than marriages that begin offline. We've also heard plenty about the source of the study's funding: eHarmony.

And here's another crazy coincidence: the eHarmony-funded study also found that eHarmony is the best online dating site for long-term relationships. How unexpected!

Ok, all joking aside, eHarmony swears it wasn't involved in any of the data analysis and all the findings are completely objective. A study is a study, and the scientific side of my brain can't resist the urge to take a look at the research (biased though it may be). So let's dive in...

Where are couples meeting these days?

• 16% use online dating.
• 14% work together.
• 12% meet through friends.
• Others meet through social networking sites, school, and social gatherings (7% each).

Where else do people meet?

• Offline, couples meet in bars or clubs, through family members, at places of worship, and on blind dates.
• Online, couples meet in chat rooms, through other online communities, by instant messaging, and while playing multiplayer online games.

Where should you meet if you're looking for a long-term relationship?

• eHarmony, of course, ranks number one.
• "All other dating" comes in second, followed by "All other online."
• "All other" comes in last place.

Which dating site is responsible for the most happy marriages?

• Surprise, surprise - eHarmony is #1 again with 25.04% of marriages.
• Match.com is a close second with 24.34%.
• An assortment of small sites are responsible for 24.64% of online marriages.
• 13.09% are unspecified.
• 7.21% come from Yahoo! Personals.
• 5.71% start on Plenty of Fish.

On the flip side, what's the rate of break-up and divorce among recent marriages?

• 7.70% of recently-ended relationships began offline.
• 6.89% started on a dating site that isn't eHarmony.
• 6.23% began elsewhere online.
• And - naturally - only 3.86% of recent break-ups and divorces began on eHarmony.

Why do eHarmony couples have such a leg up on the competition? They say it's because:

• We're in love.
• We trust each other.
• We are happy.
• We are compatible.
• We have chemistry.

And it totally has nothing to do with the fact that eHarmony paid for the study. At all. What could possibly have put a wacky idea like that into your head?

See the infographic here and to find out more about this service you can read our eHarmony review.

Have you seen this video on what it will be like to date with Google Glass yet?

Yes, it's funny. Yes, it's over the top. But you've gotta admit that it makes you wonder...

Will the introduction of Google Glass actually have an impact on your love life? Would you be willing to date someone who wore Google Glass on a date? In a recent NBC News article, Rosa Golijan decided to give it a try.

First, the basics: Google Glass is a head-mounted computer with a camera, microphone, bone-conducting speaker, and a whole bunch of sensors. It connects to the Internet using a Wi-Fi network or by tethering to a smartphone. It's capable of pretty much everything your smartphone is: it can take pictures, record video, initiate video chats, send messages, search Google, and more.

Golijan jumped wholeheartedly into her experiment, wearing Google Glass for most of her waking hours. Her first impressions were positive. "It's difficult to imagine that bringing technology closer - to one's face - could actually help get it out of the way," she writes, "but that's what happens with Glass. It's tempered my smartphone addiction and reduced the amount of time I spend staring at a screen. I've even rediscovered the fine art of making eye contact with people."

So far, so good.

When she started wearing Google Glass in public, Golijan found that the attention it drew meant wider social possibilities. "Glass doesn't break the ice, it completely melts it," Juan Pablo Risso, a 32-year-old Glass owner, told NBC. At the moment, Google Glass is the ultimate conversation starter.

And that's where things got a little trickier for Golijan. One recent date took it well, but the interruptions from curious strangers could easily have sent the date south with a less understanding partner. Another date didn't enjoy the experience, demanding that she not start talking to anyone else until they'd gotten a drink.

Whitney Casey, a relationship expert for Match.com, says the one rule you need to follow when it comes to Glass and dates is simple: "Don't wear it." Sherrie Schneider, dating coach and co-author of "The Rules," agrees, at least on the first date. "You need to treat Google Glass like any special issue on a first date," she says. "You don't eat meat. You're a Republican. You had breast cancer. Google Glass."

Golijan isn't ready to give up on dating with Google Glass yet, though she does think it's important to follow a few guidelines:

• Don't be rude to strangers inquiring about Glass. It's just as bad as being rude to a server at a restaurant.
• Monitor your date's comfort level with Glass and adjust accordingly.
• Consider taking it off at some point - there's no reason to view your whole dating life through Google-colored glasses.