If Too Short Retired, Why Can't I?

So the time has come. Im at a point in my life where I'm ready. Not to say it hasnt happened before, but now I've grown so far beyond what's considered dating in the new millennium that I'm ready to retire my jersey and cry as I see it hung from the rafters. Casual dating is no longer the move for me. Too many different personalities,  issues, hangups, and just to be honest, I'm bad with names. Now I did just "kick it" with a few fellas since my last relationship and it wasnt all bad. I usually had a good time. There was even that one time I fell in love. But that was under the strangest of pretenses and we all know how disastrous that turned out. Despite that, I feel its time to settle down. Its not about kids because frankly, I consider myself complete in that department. Its about having learned so much from my past and about myself and knowing (finally) what I want. How much Im willing to give. Understanding the difference between compromise and being taken advantage of.  Getting the fact that shit happens but trusting my partner enough to want to fight the good fight. Knowing that there's still a lot of love left in me to give to that one special person.  At last knowing that I'm special enough to be loved like I want to be....