Table Of ContentTable of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
PREFACE:
Introduction
PHASE ONE: - Get Your Soil Ready: Believe You Can Have It
HOW THE ORANGE SEED WORKS
YOU DID IT WITH YOUR CAREER AND LIFE, YOU CAN DO IT
WITH LOVE
BELIEVE YOU CAN HAVE IT
PHASE TWO: - Hit the Garden Shop: Admit You Want It
ADMIT IT: YOU WANT AN ORANGE!
TELL EVERYONE YOU WANT ONE
IT’S HOW YOU SAY IT
PHASE THREE: - How to Choose Your Seed: What Do You Want?
HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR ORANGE SEED
BE SPECIFIC ABOUT THE ORANGE YOU WANT
IT’S YOUR SEED, SO STOP IT WITH THE “SHOULDS”
AIM FOR THE PRIZE TREE—YOU DESERVE IT
BAN “JUST” FROM YOUR ORANGE DICTIONARY
CREATE YOUR BIG LOVE LIST
PHASE FOUR: - How to Plant the Seed: Focus and Imagine Feeling It
CREATE THE ORANGE BUZZ
THE ORANGE SMILE
THE ORANGE BREATH
COMBINE THEM TO CREATE THE ORANGE BUZZ
CREATE A LOVE-VISUALIZATION
MAKE A DREAM ORANGE BOARD
GIVE YOUR SEED ITS FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME
GET YOUR MOMENTUM GOING
GET IN A GRATEFUL PLACE
GO, DOROTHY, TO YOUR HAPPIEST PLACE
GO WHERE YOU ARE LOVED
SMELL AND TASTE YOUR ORANGE
MAKE ROOM IN YOUR HOME AND HEART
SEE THE SWEETNESS IN OTHER COUPLES
WISH FOR IT, EVERY TIME
SCREW PROTECTING YOUR HEART—GET YOUR HOPES UP!
PHASE FIVE: - Nurture Your Sapling to Bloom: Live a Happy Life
DON’T MAKE DATING A PRIORITY
MAKE A BEELINE FOR THE HAPPY
CARPE DATE ’EM
KEEP THINGS LOOKING UP . . . LITERALLY
DON’T PUT OFF DOING COUPLE-Y STUFF—DO IT NOW!
DO WHAT YOU WANT . . . NOT WHAT YOU THINK GUYS WILL
BE DOING
SQUASH THE OLD “UM, WHO’S GOING TO BE THERE?” LINE
THERE’S A REASON YOUR LOVE IS NOT HERE YET
DON’T STALK RELATIONSHIPS!
BE YOUR FABULOUS, QUIRKY, IMPERFECT SELF
ACCEPT WHAT THE UNIVERSE THROWS YOUR WAY
GIVE YOURSELF THE “YNK” SPEECH
FIGHT OFF THE “I’M STILL SINGLE” PANIC!
CHANGE YOUR “EXPLANATORY STYLE”
BE GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE GOOD GUYS
KICK THE RUMINATING OUT OF THE ROOM
YOU DESERVE A BIG, BAD WONDERFUL LOVE
REMEMBER: YOU’RE HOLDING OUT FOR A GREAT REASON!
THE WRONG KEY EFFECT: IF YOU’RE STUCK, CHANGE
SOMETHING
SEE IT AS ANOTHER SCENE IN THE MOVIE OF YOUR LOVE
LIFE
DON’T GIVE UP . . . OR, OKAY, DO
PHASE SIX: - Know When to Pluck: How to Recognize Your Half-Orange
USE YOUR WRONG-DAR TO WEED OUT THE WRONG GUYS
HEY, IS THAT A LITTLE GREEN SPROUT?
DON’T STARE AT THE SPROUT!
SWEET SUCCESS: KNOW IT WHEN YOU SEE IT
IS HE OR ISN’T HE?
WHEN THE TREE BEARS FRUIT
MEETING YOUR HALF-ORANGE
APPENDIX A : - Dating Strategies of Operation Optimism
APPENDIX B: - The OrangeAid Handbook
Acknowledgements
Copyright Page
FOR MY HUSBAND—MY TRUE OTHER HALF
half-orange (haf or’inj) n., translation of the Spanish phrase mi media
naranja, which means “my half-orange”; used to describe, in love, one’s
sweetheart, one’s beautifully perfect other half.
PREFACE:
One Thing, Before You Plant . . . Are You Being Too Picky?
I just have to get one thing out there, because it is an emotional prerequisite to
appreciating and successfully using this book. If you, in the last days, weeks,
months, or years of your dating life, have asked yourself the following question:
“Am I being too picky?” I have an answer for you: No.
No, no, no, no, no. You’re not being too picky!
Just because you want to be with someone you feel a real, true connection
with does not mean you’re being too picky. Just because you don’t want to
spend your time on dates with guys you don’t find interesting or physically
attractive or compelling or funny or smart or compatible in any way does not
mean you’re shallow or asking for too much. You know yourself better than
anyone else, and you know what kind of connection you want. You’re allowed
to want what you want. So stop listening to all the voices telling you otherwise.
I say this because if you’re at all like me, you’ve probably heard every
accusation in the book about why you’re still single: “You know what you’re
doing wrong? You need to give guys a chance.” “You have to widen the net.”
“There’s no such thing as a perfect man.” By this point, one of those voices
might even be yours, saying, “Well maybe, just maybe . . . it’s time to settle.”
Believe me: It’s not.
As far as I’m concerned, you can never be too picky when it comes to finding
the love of your life. If you want a real, true, magical, loving relationship, you
can have it. Here, let me put it in perspective for you:
You’re allowed to be picky about the dessert you order (a ten-minute
commitment), the movies you see (a two-hour commitment), the shoes you buy
(a six-month commitment) and the jobs you take (a one-year commitment). So
for goodness’ sake, shouldn’t you be picky about the fifty-year commitment
you’re looking for?
This book is all about being picky. You’re allowed to want what you want,
and you deserve to get it! And if you agree with that premise, then you will
do just fine.
INTRODUCTION:
What Is Your Half-Orange?
Well, it’s your ideal partner, the person you’re meant to share your life with. But
it’s also a hope so optimistic that just knowing your other half is coming your
way will change your life completely
Picture this: Let’s say you visit a fortune teller, a woman famous for
owning the world’s only crystal ball that predicts the future with 100 percent
accuracy. Now, what if this woman told you that in your future, you do find the
love that is meant for you—an incredible, mind-blowing, magical, adoring, and
life-altering love? What if she said that in, say, eight months, you were going to
meet the perfect man1 for you?
Now, we’re talking about a guy who makes you laugh so hard it hurts. A guy
who’s so attractive, you feel lucky walking beside him. A guy who thinks you’re
smart, hip, hilarious and sexy as hell. A guy you could be stuck at the end of the
DMV line with and still have fun. A guy who adores you and treats you like
gold. A guy your friends love so much, they hug him as quickly as they hug you
when you walk into a party—then tell you all night, “I want a boyfriend like
yours!” How would you feel if you knew, with 100 percent certainty, that
whether you socialized or not, whether you dated or not, whether your traveled
or stayed in, that guy would just land on your doorstep at the end of those eight
months?
Probably a sense of relief. Some giddy excitement. And most likely, it would
give you a freedom and lightness to your step that you—as a single woman who
has been pounding the pavement for love with heavier and heavier steps—
haven’t felt in a long time.
Description:Overview: How would you like to have a wonderfully well-suited, kind, adoring half-orange who feels like a teammate, a partner in crime, a true other half? “Half-Orange” refers to the Spanish term mi media naranja, which describes one’s sweetheart, that perfect other half. What if you heard he
