[MilnerRoute]

My experience of online dating taught me one thing: you have to actually meet someone in person before you ever really know what they're like. If you can just enjoy that -- the novelty of meeting a new person - then whatever happens, dating can still be an interesting and less-painful experience.

The best advice I ever got seems illogical and is barely workable. ("Love always happens when you're not looking for it.") But maybe dating is just something we do to fill the hours while we're waiting...

[TeMPOraL]

I think the advice is pretty sensible, even if counterintuitive. Love happens when you stop caring so much about looking for it. "We're both lonely" is probably the worst social object to build a relationship around. Just stop looking for it and go enjoy the rest of life with people (personally I do not subscribe to the view that relationships are the most important thing in life; while I like them, I also like a lot of other things). Start attending events, meetups, parties, where you can find people with a similar interest to one of your own, and - here's the actual hack - just make sure that the group contains people of appropriate age and gender. Before you know you'll find yourself gravitating towards someone :).