1. The key attributes to look for.
2. Be realistic. Avoid unrealistic expectations.
3. Speech is the mirror of the soul.

Know what you are looking for!   Decide what criteria are most important to you. Prepare a carefully thought-out list of the criteria that will be most important in your search for the right person who will be someone with whom you will be glad to spend the rest of your life.

• Make a list.
• Check it twice.
• Be sure to find out who's naughty and nice.

So ... don't take foolish chances. Be prepared to invest some serious time and effort to identify and clearly define reasonable criteria for the mate you will seek, and don't settle for less. Is this not the second most important decision you will ever make in your entire life? Then should you not give it the time, attention, and effort that is fitting?

The three most important criteria are:

• #1 A pure heart.
  
• #2 Spiritual compatibility.
  
• #3 A common sense of purpose in life.

Beauty is fleeting. All that glitters is not gold.

Of course physical appearance is an important consideration. It is just not the most important consideration. Of course you will want to give some consideration to height, weight, age, race, and perhaps other physical attributes. So make certain that you provide and obtain a current and accurate photo in your very first exchange of information. It is perfectly reasonable, right, and proper to want some degree of mutual physical attraction.

Of course it is also important to consider compatibility in terms of your views on children, pets, common interests, life-style, cultural considerations, political inclination, educational background, employment, and economic factors.

However ... if you have perfect compatibility in all of the above mentioned criteria ... but you are not on the same page in terms of your moral foundation, your sense of right and wrong, your spiritual focus, and your sense of purpose in life ... you will be walking on very thin ice. You will inevitably be destined for trouble ... eventually.

Very Important Do's and Don'ts:

• DO this job yourself.
• DO invest the time and effort to do the job right.
• DO approach the task objectively and intelligently.
• DO establish reasonable criteria.
• DO look only in the right places.
• DO pre-screen thoroughly before you meet.
• DO carefully evaluate compatibility.
• DO NOT trust this job to someone else.
• DO NOT gamble.
• DO NOT take foolish chances.
• DO NOT limit your horizons.
• DO NOT waste your time on incompatible or uncommitted involvements. o DO NOT get involved with emotionally sick people.

If you feel that you may be getting drawn into an "involvement" with someone who has serious unresolved issues in their life or who is not emotionally healthy, do not imagine that you can "fix" them. Run from such situations and let them get healthy first.