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Two of the hardest things to overcome in my experience are:

1. Shyness. I have an introverted personality. I have very close friends, but very few of them. (I could probably go with every single one of my friends on a roadtrip in one SUV.) I do have a lot of interest and curiosity about the girls I chat with, and I generally like to talk about them. However, I'm not one to easily trust people, and it usually takes a long, long time to get my trust. So far, the only two girls I've tried asking out so far I've already been really good friends with for 3 and 7 years respectively. I have difficulty connecting with the "popular crowd" at school. The popular students don't like me, so I don't like them. Also, one would sometimes think that having a lot of friends of the opposite gender would help eliminate shyness. There is no guarantee, I can tell you that. Most of my friends are female, but I still feel nervous when it comes to trying to ask someone out. My overall point is: If you're not very social, things will be harder. But if you ask me, I think it's better to find someone who likes you for who you are than to change yourself beyond your own recognition.

2. If "To be open, or not to be open" was the question, somewhere in the middle would be the answer. Obviously, the closer he or she is to being your dream partner, the easier the relationship will be for you. However, being too closed minded leaves you searching for the blue moon. You'll have a really hard time finding the perfect partner. We can all pretty much agree that being more open minded would mean having an easier time finding a significant other. However, you can't be to un-demanding. If you're not careful, the future of your relationship could be rougher than you could ever imagine. Disagreements would spawn all over the place, and you know the outcome. Think carefully what requirements are a must, and which are a bonus. For me, I'm very specific on appearance, personality, and behavior, and guess where that has gotten me? nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. Hell, maybe even backwards.

Good luck to finding love, people!

all good advice
*sigh*
mine=

be yourself. be brave

nothing more, nothing less.

Good guide, merci mon ami.
Though I have a question because I was reading through here and someone brought this up:
"teenager dating talk." from parents.
I was sort of like, "WTF? Did I skip a chapter?" I guess I've never gotten this talk...

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As far as me, and why I have yet to find any significant other: I'm horrendously shy, and no matter what I try I still chicken out. It's a curse I'm afraid... A strange curse, but a curse none-the-less.

I'm picky... So few people catch my interest it's not even remotely funny. Like seriously, I've only ever liked 3 people enough to think about asking them out in the 4-5 years I've been wanting someone. One I won't ever ask out though, I don't like her anymore, plain and simple. b***h. The other is... I still like her, kinda... not much anymore... Whatever I saw has died when my "friend" started dating her... The last is, well, I'm too shy to ask him if he'd like to... Seems everyone is a sexist a*****e around here... Especially the guys. I fear he'd go around telling people if he wasn't interested and didn't bend that way.

I just dunno what to do. I freak out and overthink things and stuff like that whenever I'm interested in someone. What sucks is I'm not exactly the most positive thinker and in my mind everything goes to hell in a handbasket, then get's lit on fire, covered in bullet ants, and shot a few times.

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But whatever, hopefully I'll find someone eventually...

Glad I'm not alone...
Though I did get the sex talk... by a retard... I swear my mom almost qualifies as one now... Damn near worse than my brother sometimes.

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Edit:

Does anyone else find this strange?
I can go to a porn shop and have a pleasant conversation with the clerk*, hell, even ask what kind of lube is thick and stays long**, but I don't have the courage to ask a girl out. What is up with that?

* - The clerk was some semi-old looking lady who says she gets to use all the store products. Kinda creepy, but oh well... she was real nice, pretty helpful.
** - The brand is called Oh My! or something like that. Cute name. The good news is I got a two for one deal! So it was like... $14 almost for 4 total oz. of it... (Two 2oz. bottles.) Four ounces lasts a good long time considering the most I use at a time is 3-6mL. About 30 mL per ounce.

The cure for shyness is posted HERE:

The more you're around people & interacting with them, the less shy you become. There are people who are more "socially reserved" than others, & there's nothing weird or wrong about that. But the more you interact with people, the more comfortable you'll feel doing so.

Never use the pick-up line "Hey baby, I'm like rubix cube: the longer you play with me the harder I get." My friend used that and got slapped. Haha.