Dating in your twenties is weird and challenging enough, but nowadays it seems like everyone is playing games. Dating advice is all over social media, and most of it is how to play these petty games: "leave your read receipts on and don't text back right away so they don't think you're too interested and they have to work for it"; "don't double text him"; "you texted him first last time so don't respond until he texts you first."

I, for one, am sick of these stupid love games. I don't understand why they exist and persist in our society. I understand not throwing yourself at someone all the time, but why on earth would someone really be upset about getting a second text from someone? That doesn't mean they're "thirsty" -- some people enjoy an actual conversation. It just blows my mind.

Why should you have to play the "who texted first" game with someone you're generally interested in? Just because two people are communicating doesn't mean that every text is a plot to get the other person in bed.

It seems like we play these games because we want to hide the fact that we actually like the other person, and if things end up going badly, you can just take a step back and deny it, using these "first texts" and "double texts" as your winning points in the imaginary game so that you don't get hurt and you don't look desperate to others. Showing our emotions and our vulnerabilities to others is seen as weakness in today's dating world. That is completely mind-boggling.

I'm sick of these games, and I'm sure many of you out there feel the same way. People are being so sneaky -- they can't be upfront with a person and just be blunt and honest about their feelings because they don't want to be hurt if those feelings are reciprocated. They can't be the one that's more eager to be in a relationship because they don't want to seem lonely.

Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone. And I think today's dating world is a piece of crap for teaching young adults that to be loved we must play these stupid, selfish games. And it's not true! You don't have to play them, you shouldn't have to! Can you really imagine meeting your future spouse and spending the first few months telling yourself, "Okay don't double text, you don't want him to think you're clingy." Could you imagine telling your kids that? "I knew your father loved me when he triple texted me and sent me the heart eyes emoji." No, that's ridiculous.

Wouldn't you want to meet someone who's honest about their feelings and opinions? That doesn't mess with your head and challenge you to this contest of "who can hold out texting back the longest?" People who play these games are immature to say the least! A mature person wouldn't wait a few minutes to text you back just so they don't look desperate. Why? Because they wouldn't care. They wouldn't say "wow he texted back within a minute, he must be sooo clingy."

I'll tell you who you should be with: someone who is mature and honest. Someone who's not going to stop communicating with you just to see how long it will be before you contact them again. Someone who's not afraid of telling you how they feel, even if they still are afraid of getting hurt. Someone who doesn't play mind games, but instead is willing to directly ask you on that date. Someone who won't try to hide their feelings from you just to see what effort you'll put into keeping things interesting. Someone who will put in mutual effort.

I'm calling out all of those that continue to play these games: stop it. You're not making yourself seem cooler by messing with someone's head. You're not making sure that you don't get hurt. You're not doing a good job at hiding your feelings. But you are frustrating the living hell out of someone who could be a good match if you stopped playing around. Wouldn't it be nice if we all stopped being so shady and were actually honest and direct with what we wanted out of a relationship?

What a genius idea: honesty in relationships!