A Tale of Two Lions

Just out of a shitty five year relationship, having finally built up the courage to walk away from a situation that was failing to bring me joy, for the first time, I was all on my own.

I was always afraid to be on my own. I had lived at home into my twenties, and the night I broke up with my ex-boyfriend was the first night I had spent in a house completely alone. Whenever my parents were away overnight, I had always found a friend, family member or boyfriend to make plans with, to ensure I had company for the night.

Having said that, I quickly learned that living solo didn't have to be a negative thing. It wasn't so scary after all, and I loved the sense of freedom that came with it. I re-established the social life I had well and truly lost for five years, and grew into a happier, healthier person.

The pursuit of a social life soon led me into the online dating world. Although, I definitely was not looking for a relationship. I was just loving life, and was keen for friendships and flirtation - and a little bit of attention never goes astray.

My swiping finger got one hell of a workout, and along the way I definitely met some characters. I was going on casual dates, meeting new people, and having some laughs. Nothing serious. Or so I thought.

I had two non-negotiable requirements when it came to dating - taller and older. My age filter was set at my age plus one year, and up.

One day I saw this profile pop up on my screen. This guy was a babe. I knew I had to talk to him, so I reached out with a very cool "hey there, how's things? :)".

We hit it off instantly, we had a lot in common and the conversation was just free flowing. One of the things we bonded over was football, and as luck would have it, there was a big game scheduled for the next night. We also discovered (thanks to a creepy feature of the dating app), that we lived less than 500 metres away from each other.

I invited my new friend over to watch the game, and eventually accepted (after gentlemanly asking if I'd feel more comfortable going to a bar or somewhere instead of having a stranger back at my house).

Strangely enough, it turns out my age filtering had failed me. As it happens, he was actually three years younger than me. System glitch or fate?

I watch a lot of true crime, and an genuinely a very cautious person when it comes to personal safety. As a rule I always check the back seat of my car, keep a pair of scissors in my door, check that all doors and windows are locked several times, and I literally never walk anywhere alone at night.

For some reason though, I didn't need to worry about him, and with good reason. He definitely turned out to be one of the good ones.

We talked and laughed for hours and hours. He was even better looking in person and honestly, the sparks could have set the place on fire.

Although he was perfect, and we had such a great time together, every single time we were together, as time went on, I started pushing him a way a little bit, afraid of getting my heart broken.

I tried to convince myself, and him, that we should just be friends. Luckily, he wouldn't accept that. He laid all of his cards out in the table and basically said "take it or leave it".

Still scared, I wasn't ready to take the leap, so we took some time apart. A couple days without seeing him or talking to him actually physically hurt me. I couldn't understand it. I knew what I had to do.

Exactly one month after meeting for the first time, we made our relationship official. Don't get me wrong, my insecurities surfaced a little now and then, and to be honest, they sometimes still do - but what's the point of letting fear rule your life.

I even practiced saying "I love you" for the first time while he was asleep - before promptly waking him up at 1am to tell him before I chickened out of course.

A year and a half, an adopted dog and a house purchase later, in a very cute way (which I'd love to write about at a later date), we became engaged.

Eleven months later, we were married in a beautiful ceremony with all of our friends and family.

Although I'm not often a mushy romantic, he definitely is. I have never felt anywhere near as much love as I have in my life right now.

I've got to tell you... This man and the life we have together has been above and beyond anything I ever could have imagined for myself. He brings out all pf the best qualities I possess.

He not only supports, but encourages my creative side. He brings out a confidence that I never really knew I had, and I always feel like I could just "give it a go" - whatever it may be, because he will always have my back.

And don't get me wrong, we fight as you would expect two Leos to fight - we are both stubborn beyond belief, have to have the last word, and find it hard to back down.

But on the flipside of that, we are fiercely loyal and protective of each other. There is absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for him, and I know he feels exactly the same way.

I have my happy ending, but it's not even really an ending, because I know there is so much more to come.

After all is said and done, maybe I am a lot more like a lion than I realised. I used to believe that I would have been better off realising my strength earlier, but I would have missed out on so many lessons. Not to mention, my husband and I may have never met.

The bottom line is, once I started acting like a lion, I found my very own.