Choose Me, Pick Me, Love Me...

If you watch Grey's Anatomy, I am sure you remember the scene when Meredith literally tells Derek to choose her. Even though she was asking him to pick her over another woman, I think her line resonates with a lot of us. It's not often we get to say out loud, "please pick me," when we secretly want to be chosen by a man.

I've heard a lot of stories from men about how they knew 'she was the one' early on - sometimes at first glace, sometimes after the first date... however the story unfolds, it always seems to be the man who chooses the woman.

Today I had lunch with the CEO of a pretty large publication... he was talking about how lucky he is to be with his wife - to have found her. He said that right when he saw her, he knew she was the one because she was everything he dreamt of growing up. I was moved, touched... speechless. I sat there secretly hoping someone would say that about me one day. Later this afternoon I started thinking about the other people in my life, some of the other stories and some of my own dating stories. And I wondered, does it always have to be the man to 'know' from the beginning that the woman is 'the one.' Can it ever be the woman? I couldn't think of a single case where a woman said that she knew right from the beginning that she had found her man. Is it because it never occurs or do they not admit to it?

This got me thinking even more; does this mean that we ladies wait around for someone to pick us out from the crowd, to choose us, love us... If we picked someone what would we do? Ask the guy to choose us, pick us? Some may think Meredith was bold for saying it straight out; but a lot of people may think it was desperate. Even though we think we live in an era where egalitarian relationships are the norm, it seems as though the courting period is somewhat 'in progress,' if you will. Men still seem to be the ones who lead the relationship into the future and if a woman tries to step in, she might just be judged.