Autumn is here, pumpkin spices flows and cuffing season has started!

The leaves are falling, coats are making appearances, and people are starting to think long and hard about the cold months. For singles, the dark season adds extra frenzy to finding a potential mate.  So here are some key tips to help with cuffing season.

Cuffing season is  the time of year where singles focus on short-term relationships, usually beginning in the fall around October with an eye toward a potential change in mid spring. And while a months-long relationship with a faux expiration date doesn’t sound the most intriguing to some, there are benefits to getting cuffed. The primary benefit is, for some, they need to coziness of a relationship to endure the festive holiday season followed by a bleak winter.

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Scientifically, there is also a reason some embrace cuffing season. “Hormones change with the season due to light and temperature,” Tristan Coopersmith, licensed psychotherapist and founder of Life Lab, “Our sex hormones, which are responsible for libido are super charged. We are literally just hungrier for sex during this time of the year.”

Be Clear

Be clear about what you’re seeking in the long and short term. Setting expectations from the beginning allows your potential partners to react accordingly to your needs. This will minimize the chances of anyone getting hurt in this process and it will also weed out all the people you don’t want to match with.

Be Open

Some people have a dream expectation of exactly who they think they want, but it often can cause them to miss the right person.  As The Rolling Stones song says “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need”.  Opening yourself up to people who may not be the exact thing you are looking for may also expand your own thoughts, abilities and mindset.

Be Flexible

There is a saying from some Southern mothers about “The quirks you think are adorable today are the annoyances of tomorrow”.  You can not change people.  Look at the person you wish to cuff with clear eyes, not with the expectation they are a project you need to complete.  Accept them as you expect them to accept you as you are.

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Although there’s no way of knowing if people are consciously looking for relationships which only last through the winter, there’s a large amount of data that at least supports the fact that the winter makes us all a little crazy.  But, you never know. If Hallmark movies has taught us anything, it is there are happy endings.