It's all fun and games till you go and make things exclusive.

Exclusivity is the kiss of death in a relationship, at least when sex is involved. If you really care for the other person and enjoy spending time with them, then keep things in the "talking", "seeing each other", "hanging out" categories at all costs. And it's not as easy as it sounds, without fail, your partner will try and convince you otherwise. But hold strong, it's what's best for both of you.

In reality, whether or not either party is seeing other people is completely irrelevant. It's the social stigma that has been imposed by centuries of so called "monogamous" households being advertised as the ideal way of life that sparks problems. See, we've all been brainwashed to think that exclusivity equals marriage. Ok, maybe not all of us, but definitely the females, and a handful of you boys too. Unfortunately, marriage comes with significantly more responsibilities than keeping your pants on. All of a sudden there are these radical expectations of people who had no intention of making such commitments. Time expectations, communication expectations, tone of voice expectations, you get my point. Most people aren't willing or able to meet such demands, if they were, they would be married. It becomes a full-time job to try and maintain this "exclusivity" that you forget to enjoy the very person that inspired you to elevate your relationship. Don't elevate. Stay down here on solid ground with the rest of us who have made this realization. Naturally one or both of you will fall short, and, GAME OVER. It's an admirable gesture, but you're just not ready for it. Hell, it's remarkable that some of the people attempting such complex social interactions can even tie their shoe (and sometimes can't even do that so they wear Vans slip-ons). This type of interpersonal gymnastics should really be left to professionals.

So if you meet someone who truly amazes you, keep it casual. If they feel the same way, then they'll have no desire to see anyone else. You don't need the confines of exclusivity to know that the other person cares for you...in fact, you don't want it.

In next weeks edition, leveraging exclusivity as a "nice guy" break up technique...stay tuned.