Emotional Programming

So a couple weeks ago, my dad called me up telling me that I should read this book called Are You the One for Me? by Barbara De Angelis because he claimed that if he had read it when he was 19 it would have saved him a lot of wasted time. So I went to Borders and picked it up slightly hesitant because, first of all, it has a really cheesy cover, and second of all, because I have a boyfriend and I didn't know if I was prepared to find out from this book that he wasn't the one for me. Whatever. I got it anyway because I thought it would be fun. It has a lot of exercises and stuff in it that allow you to understand why you've made certain choices in the past in terms of your love life, and ultimately it's supposed to help you figure out the kind of person with whom you'd be compatible.

So right now I'm on the chapter about Emotional Programming. This chapter has exercises that ask you to recall events from your childhood and characteristics of your parents and their relationships that probably effected the way you understand and feel about love. It's pretty unreal when you start making the connections. Here are a couple of my examples that aren't too personal:

1. Multi-ethnic upbringing --> Open-minded toward people from all walks of life --> I have to be with somebody who is completely accepting and open-minded to those who are different or have different beliefs.

2. Parents' divorce --> Wary toward divorce --> I have to be with somebody who can be serious about a committed and long-term relationship. They have to be willing to try to work through problems because I believe that divorce often happens because the people aren't willing to work it out.

So yeah. Check out the book or just think about how your childhood has shaped the decisions you make today and why many of your relationships did or did not work out.