is it important to you that we leave by a specific time

You’re thanking her for being honest, for taking care of herself, and for saving you time that could be spent with someone else who really wants to go out with you.

In the example, “How about Thursday from 7pm–9pm?” sets a clear boundary around time. When you are building a relationship with someone new, time boundaries are an easy way to begin building trust by demonstrating integrity.

To get the maximal benefit, you need both internal clarity and expressed clarity. Internal clarity comes from exploring what you want or are open to experiencing. You do this, as suggested earlier, by regularly taking the time to check in with yourself. Sometimes, you won’t fully know what you want. That’s normal. Accept and embrace those times when you’re working on figuring it out and be prepared to share that up front. Expressed clarity is when you take that internal knowing and communicate it.

At some point, someone has to take a risk. You can’t control other people’s actions. Since you can only control yourself, the risk-taker may as well be you!