If you evaluate yourself strictly on the outcome, rather than your personal effort during the dating process, your self-esteem takes a beating with each rejection. All you can ever control is your personal input into the process. You can't control the outcome. Once you concentrate on the process itself, rather than the outcome of each date, you can learn from mistakes, attempt to correct them in the future, and take yourself off the emotional roller-coaster of the dating world. And remember this.
Young women are more likely to put their dating life on hold than young men are.
That is because women are often raised to wait for things to happen to them, rather than make things happen. Men are usually raised to make things happen. This doesn't mean men can't be aggressive in work and leave play and dating to chance. It certainly happens. In summary, both sexes can put their dating life on hold.