Fiberfiend wrote:
I've given up as well. Every relationship I go into turns into a disaster, due to my inability to see that the men are completely wrong for me. I totally ignore the "red flags" and I also have a hard time communicating my feelings. I've found that I'm usually happier without a partner, because I feel like I lose myself when I'm with someone.
If I were 10 years younger, I would focus on creating a life. Find a career, finish school, work on cultivating friendships.
Shush! You ARE young! You are very young. The thirties are the best years of one's life. Trust me. They are more than half over for me and this decade has been very good to me!
You don't want to cling to every guy you go out with. You need to have your own criteria, and you need to learn to recognize the bad matches and reject them after a date or two. But you also shouldn't just give up.
You will most likely find your fella.
The name of the game is: cautiously optimistic. Don't let the yearning for a relationship govern your life, but don't give up either. The happiness for us with a revolving door love-life, is somewhere in the middle.
Take a break! Make a promise to yourself that you'll remain friends with any and all interesting guys you meet for the next few months or a year or whatever you think is appropriate. Take the dating off the table temporarily. It helps.