Do you live in a small town? Or is the city you live in so large, you feel alone? Does it seem like you never get a chance to date someone interesting because you don't know where to go?

Many people say that where they live, there is no one to meet. Confined to a small town or lost in a big city, either way, they don't know how to find someone. They are sure that if they just lived somewhere else, they could find their love.

No matter what size the city is that you live in, you may be surprised at how many opportunities there are right in your own backyard. Small town or large, there are ways to meet people you may not have thought of.

Before you run out the door to meet someone in a faraway place, consider the following:

Change your daily routines.

Most of us have a simple route to our daily destinations. Without thinking about it, we usually go to the same spots on the same pathways, to do the same things. There is comfort in the familiar, so we stick to it.

Change your routes.

Take a look at the places you visit. Most people never alter the five or six places they go to as they travel down the same streets every day. When you keep going to the same places in the same ways, never venturing out of the known, it is hard to find a new adventure in an old setting.

Change your destinations.

Isn't it strange how we keep doing the same thing with the same people in the same places and somehow...expect a different result? Make a concerted effort to go to a new spot each week. If you go to Barnes and Noble for your coffee, try Starbucks. If you go to McDonalds every week, try Wendy's for a change. If you get invited to visit a new group in a new setting, GO!

Stretch out of your comfort zone.

If you would like to meet other singles, find more dates, and look for a potential relationship, go to places you have never been to before. Try going to a city council meeting, public hearing, bookstore, library, museum, flea market, or political party meeting. Attend reunions, funerals, family parties, neighborhood gatherings, religious celebrations, county fairs, gallery openings, and concerts. Watch your local paper for the news of upcoming events. And finally, volunteer your services at the nearest hospital, nursing home, children's shelter, recreational facility, or charitable organization.

Someone is waiting for you. But you need to get out of the house so they can find you.

Tonja Weimer

Tonja Evetts Weimer is a Master Certified singles relationship and life coach, speaker, syndicated columnist and author.

Tonja is a full time professional coach with a practice in Greenville, SC. She helps individuals, especially singles, re-craft their lives and find happiness and success in their career and relationships. Some of Tonja's professional activities include:

==> Syndicated singles relationship columnist, writing SAVVY DATING, a weekly column read by over a million readers in many U.S newspapers. Tonja's column addresses relationship and life issues of interest to all adults, but particularly to the over 110 million singles in the U.S. Tonja has also had articles published in New Woman, Hope, and House Beautiful magazines, and has won 3 Matrix Awards for her writing.

==> Motivational speaker, Tonja has been a keynote presenter at national and international conferences over the last 30 years.

==> Author of materials for educators and parents (7 books, six music albums and 2 videos), which have won 22 awards.

Some Speaking and Media Highlights:

==> Keynote speaker for 2004 Women?s Issues Network Conference, Sumter, SC.

==> Keynote speaker for 2002 Parents as Teachers International Conference, St. Louis, MO.

==> Keynote speaker for 1999 International Conference for Children & Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder.

==> Keynote speaker for 1998 European Education Conference, in Mannheim, Germany.

==> Keynote speaker in 35 U.S. states at educational conferences.

==> Presenter at the International Special Olympics in Notre Dame, at the request of Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

==> Created Space Songs for Children, at the request of NASA (album taken into space by astronauts three times.)

==> Appeared on CNN?s Showbiz Today and many other TV shows.

Educational and Professional Qualifications:

==> National Fellow (U.S. Dept. of Education.) M.A. in Human Development and Education, with an emphasis on creativity.

==> Master Certified Singles Relationship Coach, Relationship Coaching Institute.

==> Personal Life Coach, Graduate, Institute for Life Coach Training.

==> Member, International Coaching Federation