When It Comes Relationships: Patterns Don't Lie

It can be exciting when you’re dating a bad boy, especially if he’s good looking and owns a motorbike. It can be a teenage fantasy come to life. The black leather jacket, the slicked back hair and that dangerous smile. But ultimately, patterns don’t lie.

Although bad boys can be fun to date at first, there comes a time when just about every woman wants to settle down, get married and have children. You may think your love for the bad boy in your life will change him, that he’ll start to want the same things you want, such as a steady job, a settled home life and children.

But unfortunately, he’s a bad boy for a reason, and that reason doesn’t include being that way just so you can mold him into the kind of man you want him to be, a staid middle-aged man whose most exciting deed is to buy pizza once a week.

You may think a boring, safe man is what you want, but if that’s the case, why are you dating a bad boy in the first place? Perhaps it’s because your bad boy thrills you in a way that no other kind of guy does; the explosive kisses, the motorbike rides and the sexy way he smiles at you.

But there is also a downside to dating bad boys such as not knowing when he’s going to call you for another date, the fact that you may not be exclusive and he’s seeing someone else and what about the times when he says he’ll pick you up for a date and arrives three hours late because he was having fun hanging out with the guys?

Or perhaps you think you can change him enough so he’ll be safe and secure but still have a tiny touch of that bad boy wickedness that you’re addicted to?

Unfortunately, trying to change a man with character issues doesn’t work. And if you do succeed in doing so temporarily, you will most likely end up with a man who resents you for it and changes back to the guy he was when he first met you or even becomes someone you don’t like at all.

You see, patterns don’t lie. If he’s a bad boy now, he’ll most likely be a bad boy for the rest of his life, despite whether you love him or not.

What you have to decide is whether you want to stay with a bad boy and put up with the bad behaviour in return for the romantic thrills or if you’d rather date a nice guy, get married and have children. The choice is yours.