This week a movie about relationship-phobic brothers was released amid critical acclaim and what seems like commercial success. Appropriately, it’s entitled "The Brothers" and it delves into just about every stereotype about us and our feelings about dating, sex, commitment, and marriage.

We generally laugh when we see these portrayals because many of the idiosyncrasies are in fact true to life. Generally speaking we are always sniffing around for the next best thing. We have a hard time realizing when we have a good thing or a really good person right next to us who has our "back."

Some of us tend to think that we might be settling for something less than what we want or deserve.

Whether it’s a better body, a smarter mind, a prettier face, a sounder standing financially — the reasons vary. In many cases they are justified. So many people we know and love got together and are either now split or in the process of doing so.

Why?

Because they were not meant to be together.

However in the haze of being afraid of making a similar mistake in our lives, some of us overanalyze our own situation and run the risk of losing out on a loving, happy relationship. Having picked the "wrong" one a few times before, I was almost jaded into making the latter mistake as well.

There was a period in my life last year when I thought somehow I would find greener grass elsewhere.

I had someone who has had my back for a long time, a very close friend, a loving and kind human being, who I still didn’t see as the "perfect" person for me. I told her that she would probably be better off if she moved on with her life without me.

I acted like so many men I know and don’t know whom I denied being like. I reasoned in my head that something had to be wrong because I never had a real reason to distrust her; she understood who I was, she was independent and wasn’t in search of a rescue. This had to be too good to be true. In hindsight all I really wanted was an excuse to play my options on "the market."

During our time apart, the woman who I’ll refer to as "M," continued to read the articles written here. I have never mentioned her before when referring to my private life. But along with hearing about my leg injury, this or that trip, she would also read about other anonymous women I wrote about who I also never mentioned by name.

She somehow thought that she was deleted from my world and it was as if she never existed. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. Although I was trying to move on with my life as well, "M" always entered my thoughts. She was next to me in a restaurant on the evening when the very first words for 1 Perspective made their way from my head to the laptop. She was there during a number of difficult times and there for some great times as well.

We are often accused of reacting to commitment as if it were a four-letter word. Usually upon hearing that assessment or insult come out of the mouth of a woman, I would get offended, as if I were somehow above that.

"I’m not that way... I’m just selective" and "afraid, what do I have to be afraid of?" – are the phrases I would tell and ask myself.

Well, it seems that denial, as the phrase goes, is more than just a river in Africa.

Unfortunately it not only took time apart from "M" to realize I was in denial, but also hearing some details about her dating experiences while we were separated. All I’ll say is, remember the wedding scene from "The Best Man."

Then I discovered I had something I thought was foreign to me — a sensitive if not fragile male ego that believes what’s good for the goose is not good for the gander. Even though I would publicly say that men and women are the same and deserve the same, a small part of me felt there was a double standard. That of course is not correct.

I was fortunate enough to figure out what was really in my best interest, in time. To let "M" know how important she is to me and to not have her ever feel that she could be deleted.

If you have a dilemma figuring out whether or not a person in your life is the one for you, remember that life is short, and ask yourself how much of it do you want to spend or even waste looking for greener grass. I’ll never forget this story told to me as a teenager.

A man searched the world for the perfect woman for him.

He traveled to cities, to farms, from the valleys to the mountains. He met many wonderful, fine women, but he thought none of them were good enough for him.

Finally, after many years, he found her... the perfect woman for him. He asked her to be his wife and she said, "I can’t because you aren’t the perfect man for me."