“Well, things have moved on a bit since we’ve last met,” Callum greets me with a big smile as we sit down to follow up on our last conversation from six weeks ago.
“I had a great response from the blog post. Funnily enough, not from any girls but from lots of guys who felt exactly the same as me.”
“It made me feel so much better, as I now know that I’m not the only one who gets tongue-tied in front of a pretty woman.”
“I had to take my head out of my backside to see that things are really not that gloomy as I thought.”
So, has he had any more luck in finding love?
“Yeah, you could say that, in a way I have. Knowing that other guys have the same problem made me stop feeling sorry for myself. I knew I had to change my attitude first and then I could start looking again.”
“I had to take my head out of my backside to see that things are really not that gloomy as I thought.”
“The first thing I did, was to sign up for a Speed Dating Event.”
“The first thing I did after the blog post, was to sign up for a Speed Dating Event here in Leeds at the Park Plaza Hotel. None of my mates wanted to go, so I just registered on my own. I really wanted to do this, so it didn’t matter if my mates came or not.”
“The event I’d booked on the 15th September was then cancelled, as they couldn’t get enough people together in the age group 21 to 35. But I was given the option to transfer my ticket to the next one on the 13th of October, which I did.”
“I was absolutely bricking it. The e-mail said that I could expect to date up to 25 women.”
“I had plenty to do at uni, so the time flew by. And then it was Saturday the 13th. Man, I was absolutely bricking it. The e-mail I’d received two days earlier had said that I could expect to date up to 25 women on that one night.”
“25??!! I couldn’t even open my mouth for one!”
“I couldn’t think straight the whole day and frantically tried to come up with things I would say, like ‘Hi, I’m Callum. Have you done this before…?’ Blank. Blank. Blank. Oh my god! I couldn’t just say that 25 times and then go stumm for the rest of the three minutes I had for each date. Aarrgh.”
“And, off ‘into the ring’ I went.”
“I got a lift into town at 7pm and asked to be dropped off by the canal so that I could take a walk into town to clear my head. I think I was shaking, I was so nervous.”
“When I arrived at the Park Plaza, there were quite a few people there already, and as I was ordering a drink at the bar, I started talking to this Irish guy, who was trying out this speed dating thing for the first time as well. That definitely helped.”
“We talked a bit and then Ajaz, the organizer from Fastlove Speed Dating, explained the rules and blew his whistle for the first round. And, off ‘into the ring’ I went.”
“The atmosphere in the room was buzzing with people just enjoying having a chat.”
“It actually was great. My nerves just disappeared, and I was having fun. The atmosphere in the room was buzzing with people just enjoying having a chat with each other. It was like a fun game that included blind dating. I loved it.”
“I was so into it that I often didn’t hear the change-over whistle and Ajaz had to shout ‘Callum, it’s time!’ a few times. It was all so good-natured and easy-going that I totally relaxed and was 100% myself.”
“There were some really beautiful women there and all easy to chat to. I can honestly say that I didn’t have one awkward moment during the three hours it took me to have the 20 or so dates.”
“There were a few short breaks as about four of the women hadn’t turned up and the guys had to sit out one or two rounds, but that was okay too as I just swapped ‘notes’ with the others who waited.”
“After the event was over, I actually ended up chatting to yet another girl in Jake’s Bar.”
“After the event was over, five of us decided to go into town for a few drinks. There were three girls, another guy – Billy – and I. We’ve had a brilliant time.”
“I’ve made some new friends, and I actually ended up chatting to yet another girl in Jake’s Bar and got her number!”
“I can honestly say that this was a great experience, and I would definitely go again. Ajaz and his team were brilliant. It was well organized and a lot of fun.”
“I’m going to be busy in the next few weeks.”
“And the best thing is that, as I got my e-mail results from the event this morning, I found out that five – five! – women want to see me again!”
“I’m going to be busy in the next few weeks.”
“It feels weird, actually. A few weeks ago I was worried that I would never meet anybody again who’d want to go out with me. And now, I’m getting a bit worried that I might get all stressed out with dating too many women.”
“Stop whining, get moving.”
“All of this has shown me though, once again, that sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself gets you nowhere. You always have to try different things and push your boundaries a bit to get to where you want to be.
In other words ‘stop whining, get moving’.”
To be continued…
Author’s comment:
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Thank you,
Caren 
Caren is a qualified and experienced digital copy & content writer with both a corporate and small business owner background. She runs KreativeInc Agency, a web design, development and content creation agency with her autistic son Callum Gamble.
She specialises in creating Inbound Marketing content for business websites and blogs. Using her expert knowledge, skills and personal experience in business development, personal improvement and autism, she crafts content that makes people take action. Her work is found in retail publications, professional websites, on her writer’s platform StoryBlog and more.
She is also an active advocate of neurodiversity in the workplace and co-founder of the NeuroPool network, neuropool.co.uk. Here, she is organising free educational workshops for employers on how to utilise the extraordinary talent found in people with autism, ADHD, dyspraxia and dyslexia within their business.
When she isn’t typing away on her keyboard or spreading her mission, you can see her having her nose buried in a book or hiking up and down the steep hills of the Yorkshire countryside with her husband, son and daughter.
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Fantastic !!! Well done Callum and I really not
Surprised at your results !!! You are an amazing beautiful person xx
❤️