I was pointed in the direction of this blog, 10 Ways To Know You’re Dating A True Gentleman, and  I thought it was awesome.  I encourage you all to read the full thing, but here are the 10 points made (with my commentary, of course).  I would also say that “gentleman” can be substituted for “real man” or “man who is truly interested.”

A true gentleman values more than just your looks.

– I’m not gonna act like looks don’t matter, they do. But this won’t be the ONLY thing they’re interested in.

A true gentleman will never be intimidated by your motivation.

– I’d use the word “ambition.” Your ambition won’t intimidate him.  He’d be your cheerleader.

A true gentleman will have more interests than just you.

– Basically, he’ll have a life. Not saying that he’ll be in clubs and such, but there will me more that makes him happy than JUST you.

A true gentleman will give you answers.

– This is a biggie.  If you ask him a question, he’ll answer.  Even if the answer is, “I don’t know, let me think about it.”

A true gentleman is direct.

– Another biggie. A grown man is gonna be straight up with you.  All that pussyfooting and sugarcoating ish? NOPE.

A true gentleman will trust you.

– Self explanatory.

A true gentleman is cool, calm, and collected.

– He’s not trying to fight any and every man who he catches looking at you.  He’ll just make his position known, and keep it moving.

A true gentleman will show you respect.

– AT. ALL. TIMES.  Now.  This DOES NOT mean he’ll never get angry.  He will.  He WILL lose his cool.  But he won’t purposely embarrass or disrespect you.  Mistakes WILL be made, and he’ll (eventually lol) own up to those.

A true gentleman will put effort into your relationship.

– Proactive.

A true gentleman will make you want to be the best version of yourself, without changing who you really are.

– Self-explanatory

Now.  Let me take a second to address how a woman would react to a gentleman/real man as opposed to a girl.  First of all, a woman will recognize, appreciate, and respect this man.  And she’ll let him know she recognizes it, appreciates and respects him.  She’ll have his back, work through the tough times, and stick it out (if appropriate, of course).  She’s not going to play games with him, emasculate him, or “test” him.

She’s going to be direct with him and talk to HIM about issues that come up.  The passive aggressive pouting fits? That is a clear indication of a girl.  And if that’s what you do, then I suggest you address it.

Also, the whole world isn’t going to know about what’s going on in the relationship/situation (you know how that goes).  Now don’t get me wrong, we ARE going to talk to our friends (ALL friends shouldn’t have the scoop on your relationship, I’m just saying) about things that bother us, but, a grown woman is going to have friends  who can be trusted and will do their best to help the situation instead of sabotage it.  Ultimately, a grown woman is going to understand that you keep problems that may come up in-house. Period.

The bottom line is that ALL women/men aren’t the same.  But, I think this is a good general list on how to tell if you’re dealing with an adult as opposed to a child in an adult body.  People are going to mess up and make mistakes.  The ultimate goal is to find someone you’re willing to put up with in the midst of those mistakes.

Don’t look for someone who is perfect, just someone who is perfect for YOU.

Peace.