“How Do I Get a Commitment-Phobe to Commit?”
Since the problem appears to be his trust/commitment issues in general and not us not liking each other, or so much the bullshit “time” excuse he initially gave, I think we could work it out. So my question is: how on earth do I approach getting back together with a guy who has trust issues? I kind of want him to know that I have experience with people who have trust/commitment issues and I’m willing to take things slow and be patient, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to directly say that to him. So, how do I convince him to take a chance on me? — Committed to a Commitment-phobe
So, because a guy decides after a month that he doesn’t want to date you anymore — and has alleged history of making the same decision about two other women in his past — he’s a “commitment-phobe”? That’s an awfully big leap to make, though I can certainly understand the temptation to make it. Looking back at my own romantic past and the guys who unceremoniously dumped me after a few weeks of dating, I can imagine now how I might have avoided some relatively painful ego bruising if I’d only accepted that the real reason I was suddenly single was because the poor fools were commitment-phobes! Instead, I was silly enough to assume that the guys had gotten to know me well enough to decide, for whatever reason, that I wasn’t a good match for them. It never even dawned on me that if the poor saps had arrived at similar conclusions about other young women that the problem might actually be theirs — that there might be something wrong with them.
I’m being facetious, of course. Not because I’m mocking you, because, truly, we’ve all been where you are. We all know how easy it can be to manufacture reasons for being dumped that have nothing — nothing at all — to do with the idea that maybe he or she simply isn’t into us. What’s worse is when we convince ourselves that not only is he still very much into us, but he didn’t really mean to break up with us at all! Why, he’s just scared, see. This was just some silly tactic to see how committed we are to him, see. Once we convince him that we’re in it — we’re really in it and nothing he can say or do will drive us away — our relationship will once again be fantastic. … Or, you know, as fantastic as it can be when he hardly makes time for us. But, that’s just a technicality! He can’t help that he’s busy. It surely has nothing to do with his feelings for us.
Ah, but dear LW, it does. If a guy really wants to spend time with you, he’ll find the time. If he really wants a relationship with you, nothing — not four classes, not an executive position on the student government — will stand in his way. The truth is, he just wasn’t into it all that much. He realized after a few weeks with you that, for whatever reason, you weren’t a good match for him. I know that’s a tough pill to swallow — especially if you felt he was a good match for you. But I promise, the faster you get it down, the easier it will be to move on.
If you’re worried about bruising your ego, then trust me on this: the last thing you want to do is try to convince this guy to give you another chance. The last thing you want to do is to tell him you “have experience with people who have commitment issues.” It wasn’t commitment issues that led to your breakup. He just didn’t want to date you anymore. The “bullshit time excuse” he gave was his way of letting you down easy. Just because he’s let other girls down the same way doesn’t make it any less so. MOA, darlin’. MOA with your head held high and the knowledge that if this guy felt in his heart that you weren’t the right match for him, then he wasn’t the right match for you. The good news is, the next guy (or the guy after that, or the guy after that) just very well might be.
*If you have a relationship/dating question I can help answer, send me your letters at [email protected].
Wendy, I love you! Your response is perfection.
I second all of this. Guys don’t like making women feel bad outright. They don’t want us to cry and scream when they try to break up with us after a few weeks (because *wouldn’t* you cry if he outright said ‘”I just don’t like you”?), so they generate a bullshit reason that you can’t (or aren’t supposed to) argue with – “I’m a committment phobe” or “We just aren’t in the same place in our lives right now.” It’s supposed to let you down easy, and let them walk away without feeling like they broke your heart, even though of course, they probably did. Not saying it’s right, but it’s what happens.
Someone who wants to be your boyfriend will BE. YOUR. BOYFRIEND. It doesn’t take convincing nor cajoling on the part of the woman. Women don’t end up with men they had to convince to date them. They end up with men who were convinced all by themselves that they NEEDED to be with this woman. Big, big difference.
I would give you the exact same advice as Wendy! MOA!
Based on nothing other than what was written here, and so therefore very tenuously, I posit that he feels that, to sleep with someone, he needs to be in a relationship with them, either because of his own beliefs or because, as someone with possible political interests, he doesn’t want any stories to surface of him sleeping around – or even because he feels that calling it a relationship makes it easier to become sexual with someone because they let their guard down.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he has quite a number of one-month relationships. I am pretty sure he goes into each of them under the assumption that they’ll end in a few weeks.
LW, I’m sorry for your situation, but it wasn’t even a month of dating, and the guy isn’t going to change in the near term, if ever. Trying to win him back isn’t going to work, and, if anything, will cause his future relationships to be even more brief so as to avoid such – as he’d phrase it – drama.
Eh. I think you’re giving this douche too much credit. It’s probably just a part of his pick-up game that seems to work well enough to keep using.
Hence the “he feels that calling it a relationship makes it easier to become sexual with someone because they let their guard down” bit. 😉
Spot on spaceboy, she’s been conned. Time to move on, this guys going to keep it up for as long as it works for HIM.
I knew a guy in college who was Mormon and wasn’t supposed to have sex before marriage, so he got the idea to propose to every girl he wanted to have sex with. He got engaged 3 or 4 times before he graduated. Never actually married any of them…
I knew someone like this too. Except he was in high school. He even went so far as to have a “pretend” wedding with this one girl. He must’ve really wanted to sleep with her, because he was only 17, but he had the fake wedding so they were married in the eyes of God. They exchanged vows with each other and after about a month of it, he was on to another girl.
That sounds like something Charles Manson would do.
WOW. Just WOW… You have to feel sorry for the girls that fall for that stuff. Although, in the case of the guy I knew, I kinda stopped feeling sorry for them by the 3rd girl. It was a really small college, so they HAD to have known about it…
Are you sure you’re not thinking of Will Smith when he had DJ Jazzy Jeff pretend to be the minister so he could “marry” that girl? LoL
Unfort, No. This was a guy that I grew up with from kindergarten all the way through high school. He was “Christian” and he had a string of girlfriends. He was a classic player. The thing was he wasn’t even that good looking. He just knew what girls wanted to hear, and after he figured out the way to get into a girls pants…it was all over. Of course, he didn’t get very many girls after this happened at the end of our Junior year. Even the guys he was friends with thought it was low!
that is REALLY fucked up!
This was what came to my mind as well, guy is a total player.
Please LW, don’t try to convince him of anything. Be glad you don’t have to deal with him anymore, he was a jerk, and you can do better.
Well said, Wendy!! I love the honesty of your response because that is what this girl needs to hear. Her friends are probably agreeing with her delusional notions about the relationship (of an entire MONTH!!) just to make her feel better. This question just made me feel bad for the poor girl because she think she can still “work things out.” It takes two to tango and you can’t make someone be your boyfriend if he doesn’t want to be!
Yeah, I wonder if she’s even telling her friends that he’s “emotionally crippled,” which seems to be the new buzz phrase for whenever a woman is unceremoniously dumped and given a BS line. “He said he doesn’t have time for a girlfriend, so he must be emotionally crippled.” Or, my favorite: “He says he can’t date me because I devote too much time to my job. He must be emotionally crippled!” No, sweetie, he was just giving you a line to spare your feelings. He’s (probably) not emotionally crippled. He just didn’t want to date you anymore.
Can I throw it out there without sounding totally tired and outdated? – She should really read “He’s Just Not that Into You.” Your response, and your very last sentence here are great summaries of it…and I think the LW could use a book on the subject!
I hate that book, but she definitely should read it!
I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Steve Harvey’s “Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man”
Nice to know! I’ve been thinking about reading that and now I’m definitely buying it this weekend 🙂
Yeah, it’s definitely over-referenced and kind of beaten to death…but it gives you a pretty good insight into the male mind in situations just like the LW’s. I learned some good points from it a few years back.
Without reading the letter, or even the advice given, my first thought upon reading the headline was: “You don’t.” As Wendy said, LW, just cut your losses and MOA. He showed he wasn’t worth your time, and he did you a favor by ending it before you got too invested. It sucks that he dumped you out of nowhere–and the excuse he gave was pretty cowardly–but really, you’re better off. One day, you’ll meet a guy who’s worth your time, and you’ll look back on this and go, “Whew, I dodged a bullet after all!”
Side note: when I first saw the headline, I misread and thought it said “How do I get a commitment-phobe to be a communist?” LOL
I thought the very same thing when I read the headline. I’m guessing we’re not the only ones who thought it. (The you don’t part, not the communist part.)
This is just the long drawn-out version of the guy who says he can “really see myself with you, I’m ready to settle down” at a party, hooks up with you that night, and then says at breakfast that it was a great night but it would be a mistake to try to turn it into something it wasn’t.
It hurts, but you can do better.
So, y’all only dated for a month and didn’t even see each other that much? Hell naw! Forget a buncha that!
As far as I know, guys aren’t into women who chase them. When you try so hard it just stinks of desperation. Chasing after a man who turned you down is really not worth your energy anyway. Go about your own business and enjoy life. When the right guy comes along, he’ll be the one pursuing you!
Oh exactly. I think pretty much ANY question that involves any form of “he broke up with me, how do I get him back”, is a MOA situation.
He broke up with you. Trying to get him back will only make you look desperate and make you feel worse about the break up.
Just let it go…
You know what? I changed my mind. You should totally fake a pregnancy. Let’s REALLY see how well-prepared this smarmbag is for a political career.
Go all Rielle Hunter on his ass.
Bah hahaha!
LMAO. Spaceboy what am I going to do with you?
Seriously. At the next public event for student government, you should show up with a throw pillow stuffed up your shirt and a water balloon stuffed down your jeans and be like, “Ah! My water just broke! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!!!”. The more stupidly cartoonish, the better. You’ll be the campus hero for two years.
I’m sorry, but 4 classes is not a lot. My college required 5/semester for your first 3 years and then 4 senior year (most people took an additional class or two and/or had internships/jobs senior year, though) and people still found plenty of time for extracurriculars and relationships. You make time if you want to.
The guy just doesn’t seem all that interested in dating you or the other two girls he apparently dated last semester. You only dated for a few weeks and rarely saw each other. Do yourself a favor and MOA.
Ha! Try having 11 courses in one semester! Intensive grad certificate program! I nearly died!
At certain schools with a quarter system, three is the norm, two is a light load, and four is the most you can take. And its really, really hard. The dude is taking a heavy courseload. I’m actually almost position this is from my school, which makes me really excited.
So yeah, four classes sounds absurd in another system, but up here in the wilderness, its bye bye social life. (Though you can totally have a relationship and take four classes, its just really hard. And LW, he didn’t think it was worth the effort. Sorry he’s a douche, move one.)
Whoa, holy typos. “Almost positive its my school.” “move on” and any other typos I missed. I got excited. Sorry
Wait, how do we know he’s on quarters?
Yes, my school is also on the quarter system where 3 is the normal amount, and 4 would simple be way too much for me to handle, but some people do it successfully.
I was going to say the same thing. I went to a school where four classes was the standard and each was worth 4 credits. It was a good amount of work, but I managed to take 5 and a half classes, participate in 3 theater productions as actor or tech each semester and STILL had time for a boyfriend. Its not that he can’t make time for her, its that he’s not INTERESTED in making time for her.
Agreed with RE. 4 classes in the minimum if you want to be considered a full-time student. I took closer to 6-7 continuously for four years and I made time for other things.
It was a month. It hurts now, but in the grand scheme of things you’ll forget it. Move on and find someone who can’t get enough of you.
This is just a technicality, but if they are on quarter, not semester system, then four classes at once is actually a lot. Not that it matters either way, even if he was taking ten classes at once if he really wanted to see her he’d see her.
I have to agree with everyone mentioning a quarter system. Also, if any of these classes are lectures that also have a lab attached, the amount of work for the same or just slightly more credits can be a LOT more. I have one lab that add 8 hours of in-class lab time per week.
That’s all slightly irrelevant to what’s really going on here, which is that if someone break’s up with you and they are not trying to work it out with you after, there is no way to make it work. It’s a pretty good sign that you should MOA before you’ve broken up with someone if either of you are unwilling to resolve relationship issues.
Okay. Even on a quarte system, which is less common than a semester system, the point still stands- if you want to make time, you make time.
If she is on the quarter system, why did she say “last SEMESTER”?
Slam dunk. I can’t believe it took that long for me to realize it was in the letter all along. 🙂
🙂
I read the letter, and before I even read Wendy’s advice I thought…MOA! Seriously. Like Wendy said, LW, if he wanted to be with you, he would make time. Yeah, it seems like a cop-out to say he doesn’t have enough time, but that doesn’t mean he’s lying. What he probably meant was he’s not into you enough to make the time. Do you really wanna spend time worrying about this guy..? I wouldn’t. Go find someone who actually wants to be with you instead of worrying about someone who pretty obviously doesn’t.
Relationships by necessity are two-sided. Break-ups can be one-sided, and the other person doesn’t get a say. You have no leverage to negotiate here. Why would you even want to grovel for him? Save yourself the embarrassment. I’m already embarrassed for you.
“I’m already embarrassed for you.”
Truthful ouch.
All this big long talk about this for a “not quite a month” fling? Looking forward to Wendy’s next article today. His Take!
any article Wendy sees fit to publish deserves the same courtesy. I don’t see why this comment is even necessary.
Wait…this guy claims he never had a girlfriend, yet you were able to find TWO other girls who also got the line of him lacking time to give a girl proper attention? This guy sounds like a player who operates as a serial monogamist. Why would you want to repeat your experience with people who have trust/commitment issues with someone who obviously demonstrates trust/commitment issues? He had his chance, so consider it wasted. I think you need to start dating outside of your usual type and find someone who will have no issue with you. MOA LW, MOA TODAY!
I noticed that too!! Honestly, the whole he’s never had a gf and he wants a real relationship, not a hookup stuff seemed like a line to me. Sounds like he just wants to sleep around and gains trust by making it seem like he’s inexperienced.
Sounds suspicious. But if I were in his place, I don’t know that I’d go around referring to one-month relationships as actual relationships. Even if you use the words “girlfriend” and “boyfriend” during it, it still seems too casual in retrospect. Still, his lines about never having a girlfriend and wanting a relationship don’t make sense.
yeah, and even if she went around using those words, it doesn’t mean that he did too. i bet he didn’t when he wasn’t around her.
i don’t mean to be cruel to the LW, it just sounds like that was the case.
MOA MOA MOA!!! I know that’s sometimes easier said than done… but LW you’ll find someone who will make time for you! You’ll find someone who could not imagine being without you. You just have to be patient.
Man, haven’t we all been through this before?! “Surely he has another reason besides just not liking me”….nope, sometimes that’s it. And that’s all it needs to be. Make nothing more of it. Lessons are sometimes learned the hard way, but I always try to take something from my last relationship to build on. I hope she can do the same.
Not to be too harsh but, LW, are you delusional??? The guy dumped you…after a month…because he was “too busy”…& had two other girls he told the same thing to. Why would you even consider wasting your time on this d-bag?? Maybe I read your letter incorrectly, or maybe you left some things out, but from what I got, MOA!! Don’t even bother. He’s made no efforts to reconcile with you or explain himself, or anything of the sort so why are you still harping on it? It was a one month relationship…I promise you, you will find someone worth your time. This is NOT the guy. Focus on that; on YOU, not on conforming yourself to HIS needs! PLEASE!!
MOA, LW! M!!! O!!! A!!!
LW-let’s be honest here. A month doesn’t make for a relationship so just MOA. He has made it pretty clear that he does not want to date you and he did the same thing to the other girls. He is not even worth your time.
Also, in my second to last semeter at Penn State, I also took 4 night classes while working full time. Yes, it is difficult but not impossible. I still managed to continue my relationship with my boyfriend. If he wanted to date you, he would make the time even if it was just to see you once or twice a week.
What would the game plan be if you DID convince him that he is a commitment-phobe and that he should take you back? Wouldn’t you just be giving him an excuse to string you along and treat you like crap?
You: “Why aren’t you answering my calls? I haven’t seen you in two weeks!”
Him: “Don’t pressure me! You know I have commitment issues! Give me my space!”
He doesn’t think you’re worth his time, so please don’t waste any more of your time on him.
Wendy said it perfectly, but I have one more thing to add. I’ve done the dumping, and I’ve been in this guy’s position before. Do you all have -any- idea how condescending and smug it is when ANOTHER PERSON tells you what you -really- want rather than listening to you? When this happened to me, all I heard was, “No you can’t make decisions about what you want. I know better so I’m going to tell you what I think you want.” The hell?
This girl is presuming to know what he thinks, and therefore she feels empowered to make decisions on his behalf. That is undeniable an extremely irritating thing to experience. When this happened to me, I felt even more solidified in my decision to end that relationship.
And you know what? I blame romcoms for this.
THIS THIS THIS!!!!!!!!
This happened with my ex, and when it happened, I was shocked / confused / baffled.
Me: “This relationship isn’t working for me. Please start looking for another place to live. I’ll stay at my mom’s for a few weeks until you’re gone.”
Him: “No.”
Me: “What?”
Him: “No.”
Me: “What do you mean? No? This isn’t a question, this isn’t a debate, I’ve made up my mind. I don’t want to be in this relationship anymore. You need to move out of my apartment.”
Him: “No. I’m not moving out. I don’t want to break up, so we’re not breaking up. See you when you get home from work tonight, babe.”
I then had him served with a legal 30-Day notice to vacate. After his 30 days was up, he still refused to move. So, I gave my landlord a 30 day notice that I would be vacating. He had no choice but to move when I moved.
My point is – and this has probably already been said – it takes two (at least) to be in a relationship, but it only takes 1 to break up. If someone tells you they don’t want to be with you, they don’t. Take them for their word, even if their word sounds like a line of BS. If someone doesn’t want to be with you, you cannot make them. And trying to just makes you pathetic.
That is the most horrible story ever!
You are so mean!
Disagree she is mean. A person has the right to end a relationship and nobody else has the right to hold them hostage in it. I’m sorry you had to go through even 1 more day living with a guy you didn’t want to be with, Teresa, and I’m sorry you had to flee your own apartment to get away. What he did is not Ok at all.
Thank you. And just for background, this was a few weeks after the 2nd time I caught him cheating. The first time I forgave, but advised him that if it happened again it would be a deal breaker; I even tried to forgive again – but couldn’t. On top of that – he was unable to hold down a job, I let him live with me for more than a year, and he contributed less than $600 the whole time. I was definitly in the right – eventhough I see now that I should have broke it off a lot earlier. Lesson learned.
Ugh thats such an awful story, I feel terrible for you. But even without the background, anyone at any time* has the right to decide a relationship is not for them and leave. Cheater or no. And if he refuses to go/let you go, then he is being emotionally abusive.
*Caveat here is that if you are married and/or have kids, then it gets complicated. But you should still never stay in a relationship you really, truly don’t want to be in, even “for the sake of the children.”
“I felt even more solidified in my decision to end that relationship” – YES. This always, always backfires. I know a girl who dated a dude for a few weeks, and he broke things off a couple hours before a date because “they were in different places in their lives.” She became determined to convince him that she was SO mature, and so ready for marriage (she decided that marriage was what he had meant by that….), annnnd lo and behold…he still wanted nothing to do with her. If you want to convince them that you’re desperate, pathetic, and not a little psycho, then go right ahead with that.
I literally just had this happen to me a few weeks ago…with a guy named David as well. I decided to not chase after him because I felt that the “not enough time” line was B.S. Thanks for posting this and reaffirming that I made the right decision 🙂
Totally agree, Wendy. He’s likely decided that you aren’t quite what he’s looking for, and wants to move on, so you should too. And even if he is in fact a commitment-phobe or emotionally crippled, the only one who can convince him to work on that is him. There’s nothing you, or any other girl, can say or do to convince him to work on his issues until he is good and ready on his own.
Wendy’s right. I can’t determine whether he is being really shady or just decides he isn’t interested in the girls he dates. I’m in similar situation in that I’m super busy and I’m willing to date, but I’m not going to make tons of sacrifices in my schedule unless it’s someone I’m really, really into. But I’m not trying to just hookup. So, I can see what he means if it’s true. Either way, the part about guys seeing you if they want to see you, is completely true.
This is a very good point. He’s not necessarily a douchebag. Maybe he does want a relationship, and would be willing to make time and sacrifices for it, but only if it’s with a person who in his opinion is worth the effort. And he decided you’re not, and he doesn’t want to make sacrifices for you anymore. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Though he definitely could have been clearer about it.
Yes. I’m sorry for LW and the painful bruising that happens in those early college days of dating. But you will get stronger!
We have some sappy movies and TV shows to blame for perpetuating the idea that when dumped, it’s your job to win the person back!
Let’s go on the record to say this is absolutely NOT how it works. And its for this reason that books like The Rules (fraught with problems though they may be) have been so successful. Our hearts don’t naturally lead us toward self-respecting behavior (they’d rather us camp out on the porch of unrequited love). We don’t learn it in school or from Hollywood stories. It comes from trial, error, and good advice columns. MOA and you will have the last laugh when you find a worth partner. Believe it!
I so agree! Self-respect gets lost in these scenarios, but this is when you really need it!
Oh this makes me feel awful to admit, but I am definitely guilty of having used almost that exact line to break up with a guy. “I’m too busy for a relationship and you live to far away.” To be fair, I WAS busy with work- I work rotating schedules so some weeks I’m working normal 8 to 5 office hours, some weeks I work 11pm to 8am, also sometimes weekends, all of which makes it pretty damn difficult to have a social life. But more importantly, I just wasn’t interested in a relationship with the guy. A few months later, I met my current boyfriend who lives almost as far, and my work schedule is worse now than it was then. But I find time, because I want to be with him. I’m working the evening shift now (3pm to midnight) so I’m home hanging out while everyone I know is at work, and then tonight while my boyfriend and friends are off having fun, I’ll be working. But the other night I went over to his place at midnight, got into bed after he’d already been asleep for 2 hours, and he left me there at 7am the next morning while I was sleeping in before another late shift. Basically no time in that night where we were both awake and together, but its the best we can do. If that’s not too busy for a relationship, I don’t know what is… but we want to be together so we take what we can get.
I guess my point is that “too busy” is totally a bullshit excuse, but it doesn’t cover up deep emotional scars, it covers up that he just doesn’t want to date you. Even if all he could do was curl up next to you after a long day of leading the university population after you’d gone to bed, if he wanted to be with you he would be. And I know one day you’ll meet a guy who would do that for you, so don’t waste your time worrying about this short barely a relationship that didn’t work out.
Wow, Wendy was a lot nicer to the LW than I would have been. I think this could have been a candidate for Short Cuts: “You got played. This douche does not want to date you, and honestly, why would you want to be in a relationship with someone who treats you (and others, given his past) like this? MOA.”
To me, if someone isn’t interested in me to begin with, that’s strike one, two, and three. Not wasting my time.
Seriously, you’re not doing yourself any favors by desperately fighting for someone who literally doesn’t want you!
I remember being a teenager and only being attracted to the guys who weren’t interested in me. Then later in life I learned that guys who think I’m awesome are so much better than the ones who don’t.
Well put, LSS86! I think a lot of teenage girls have that issue… I certainly did.
I totally agree with Wendy, but I think you were even a little easy on the LW. You used the term “commitment-phobe,” not the LW. She said that the guy has trust issues. TRUST ISSUES!!!!!! Saying that she assumed he was a commitment-phobe is letting her off easy. She is going so far jumping to conclusions here. A guy breaks up with a few girls after a month of dating and he has trust issues? How on earth do you make that logical leap??
The LW said “trust/commitment issues”.
Oh sorry, you’re totally right, she did use that word too. I just think trust issues are a whole different story than commitment issues. How could she possibly know if this guy has trust issues?
.. but I agree with your point!
I dated this guy! Well, not this actual guy, probably, but a guy who was exactly the same way. Don’t waste your time LW!!!! This guy was my first “real” boyfriend and I spent three years on-and-off (most of my undergraduate) wasting my time, thinking he would change his mind and come back to me. He did always come back, but it was only for a little while before he was on to the next girl.
This guy is a total player. Be glad you’re well rid of him.
I know it must hurt your feelings that he broke up with you but often more than not couples don’t fit together well personalities, different values, doesn’t mean you are a bad person, he is not into you so don’t waste anymore energy on him and move on.
It seems to me like you dated a guy for a few weeks and then he broke up with using a reason that was meant to let you down easy, and which is his go-to excuse. As pointed out, he clearly just didn’t want to continue dating you and this probably seemed less hurtful than explaining why. Do you want to hear a list of things he decided he didn’t like about you? He doesn’t really owe you a better reason, anyway, after such a brief relationship either, I mean you shouldn’t need closure or something.
You are right that not-enough-time isn’t the true reason for the breakup, but you’ve gone the wrong direction with that. He doesn’t want to date you. It is not because of trust or commitment issues. What does this have to do with trust at all? You are not star-crossed lovers kept apart by problems external to your own feelings for one another.
OK, going back a re-reading the letter I caught something in the last part that is kind of worrisome: ” I kind of want him to know that I have experience with people who have trust/commitment issues and I’m willing to take things slow and be patient, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to directly say that to him.”
LW, I honestly don’t think you should waste your time on this particular guy. I also don’t think you should waste your time on any MORE guys with trust/commitment issues. Why do that? Why look for the broken ones? LW, find yourself a nice guy who has his shit together. Really, find a guy who doesn’t have issues right out of the gate. All relationships CREATE issues. You’ll have more than enough to be patient about later.
Why is this guy a jerk or an asshole because he broke up with 3 girls after a month? Isn’t that what dating is? Why does this make him either an asshole or a commitment phobe?
I don’t get everyone saying he’s a jerk either! I mean who knows he could be, but from the information we have this does not sound out of the ordinary.
I tried to date a girl for about 7 months who had bad anxiety, was in grad-school and had an illness. We only met once, the first time I met her, and talked/chatted for months until we decided to try to date. Her anxiety just screwed things up, but I waited it out, I adore her. Things became stressfull when she was in summer school and became ill a few times, I waited patiently but she drifted away and in the end decided she was too busy and stressed to have a b/f. It hurt, alot, but she said she still likes me and does want to at least hang out sometime. We didn’t talk about trying again and had no communication for months really.
I recently started to talk to her again. She went on a date once, which stung, but nothing came out of it. Her anxiety is more managed now and she still wants to hangout. Sometimes she is flirty, sometimes she is not. I really want to hang out with her and see if anything sparks or it’s not meant to be, she knows I will work around her school schedule. We are sort of re-starting. Is it alright to flirt with her again? Or should I wait until we are able to actually hang out? I have a feeling she is still attracted to me.