Last night, a friend was looking through my photo album and noted how attractive my "high school sweetheart" was. My friend joked (?), "Why on earth did she date you then?"

It's funny this was asked because it has been a question at the crux of all my dating relationships.

Of the three girls I seriously dated as a girlfriend, I have believed they were all substantially more attractive than me. And this isn't, "Well, in his eyes, Paul just thinks his girlfriends are pretty" or "Paul just has a low self-esteem" because across the board, according to everyone, all of them would be considered more attractive than me.

And so while I'm dating them, I'm often asking myself, "Why on earth is she dating me?"

I've got my answers and all. They like my personality. We're compatible. She's not, you know, shallow. Stuff like that. And I'm confident that's all true, but still... it gives me pause.