While I am a firm believer in fate, destiny, and karma, not everybody is willing to trust in "the stars" to determine their future. You may have wondered to yourself, "What is my chance of finding a mate?" Well, there are various statistics to support the answer to that question, and I have listed several of them below. You may be surprised at some of them, especially the number of people that use online dating.

1. 40 million Americans use online dating services. That's about 40% of the adult American single population. It's not just a fad anymore, and it just might be your ticket to finding happiness.

2. 44% of the adult American population is single. That's over 100 million people, so your odds are actually much better than you think.

3. On average, there are 86 single men to every 100 single women in America. So, the odds are slightly in favor of men finding a mate. This ratio is a bit better in the Southwest, and in warmer climates such as Texas, Florida, and California, the ratio in some cities actually favors the women.

4. 50% of New York state adults are unmarried, making it the best state for single people. Washington, D.C. actually boasts a 70% single rate, making it the best area (although not a state) for single people.

The states with the worst ratios are Idaho and Utah, with 40% and 41% single, respectively.

5. 51% percent of single people surveyed say that flattery is the best way to attract someone. According to Are You Normal About Sex, Love, and Relationships? 25% also say to use touching as a way to flirt is very effective, and a surprising 23% say that the best way to let someone know you're interested in them is the old schoolyard method of passing word through a friend.

6. Profiles with photos get over twice as many responses. According to economists at MIT and University of Chicago, profiles with photos get over twice as many emails as profiles without them. Sounds like a good enough reason to me to go ahead and put that photo out there on your profile.

7. You have 15 minutes to make a first impression - if you're a woman, that is. If you're a man, you have a little more cushion. Women usually take about an hour to decide if you're going to have a second date.

8. #1 relationship argument is over money - according to a poll by the University of Denver. So, don't feel too bad if you can't agree about who's paying for the date. It's rather common, and not exactly a foretelling of things to come.

9. 48% of breakups in online relationships occur thru email. It may seem rude or insensitive, but this is the world we live in, especially in the setting of an online relationship.

10. Only 2% of men find relationships from a barstool. This number only goes up to 9% for women. So, get down off that barstool, and try your luck somewhere else, such as online, or through a network of friends, where 63% of married couples claim to have found their mates, according to the book Sex in America: A Definitive Survey by Robert T. Michael.