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They say don't hate the player, hate the game, and that is exactly what ended up happening for me. I hated the game and playing only made me like myself less and less. Going off the idea that these things are a game with rules, I quickly found myself changing who I was to best "win" at the game. I was holding myself back, I was playing up certain parts of myself, and playing down other characteristics, all so I could be more "desirable.
I became who I thought I was supposed to be, not who I was. I acted more way casual, and less emotional than I really am. I put only the best pictures of myself out there, but not what I look like when I wake up in the morning. I filtered myself in basically every way, and took what makes me uniquely special out of the equation, so I could be more "marketable.
It's dishonest, dull and way too technical for something that shouldn't be so systematic. While I didn't realize this till months later, I was simply unhappy with my life. I was using the idea of dating as an escape from my own life because well, it's an easy distraction, and even easier the more venues, or apps, you have to keep the hunt alive.
I don't think this is necessarily true for everyone facilitating these tools, but I do think it's way more common than many people realize. It's another numbing device in the avoidance of ourselves. Focusing your attention on others as a way to not look in the mirror, and find what is truly wrong, hurting or uncomfortable at this moment in our own lives.
It's really easy to think that when you find someone a lot of your issues will just subside or disappear, but the truth is until you start to work on you, you'll never be happy, coupled up or single. One of the hardest things to do is look in the mirror and be honest with yourself because there usually is a lot of sadness, confusion and disappointment.
However, when you finally admit this to yourself, you take the first step to changing all of that. Thinking about who I could meet, having numerous conversations with multiple people and trying to keep up with all of it was exhausting.
Call me old-fahsioned, but I think there is something beyond romantic about meeting someone, one person, and courting each other. Finding out about each other, focusing on just him and seeing where it could go.
Having Larry, Moe and Curly in the wings just kept me unnecessarily anxious, unfocused and a part of the three stooges. As I chatted, met and repeated each of these steps with guy after guy, and there even was one named, Guy, I found myself constantly sitting across the table from someone, who wasn't on my page. Maybe it was the guys I was swiping right to, the app I was choosing to facilitate or any other number of reasons, but it seemed like most of these men didn't actually want a relationship.
They wanted someone to have dinner, a conversation or sex with, but not actually a relationship. Winning meant different things to different people, but it never felt like there was two winners at the end of it all, and in my opinion, there is no point in taking part in anything where you don't have two winners.
I truly believe it's either two winners, or two losers and the later played out far too frequently in this unwinnable game. In the end we all have the right to do, act and say as we please, but as I had swam through the never ending pool of virtual daters, I found myself tired, numb and even more bored than when I had started. I didn't like the shallow conversations I was having to have over and over again.
I didn't like the lack of emotion that was fostered through staring at my screen for hours, and I didn't like that I felt bad day after day about not finding what I had been searching for. After being off all dating apps for about a year, I can honestly say I am more at peace with my life, my love life and myself. I have met some great guys in real life, "organically," if you will, who have showed me that there are some great ones still out there, and you don't need to be staring at your screen to find them.
Frankly, you need to be doing the opposite. Look up, look around you, look all over. There are great, funny, interesting individuals all over the place: The key is to just get over yourself, and say hi. We let so many people walk right past us, sit down next to us, and stare at us, but never take a leap of faith and say hi because we don't have a buffer. Forget about the buffer, forget about your pride, forget about everything because when you see someone in real life, and they give you butterflies, you need to honor that feeling and fly with them. Dating isn't a game, there shouldn't be rules, and the longer you stay a player the longer you just get stuck playing a video game.
I'm not saying quit everything all at once, but I am saying that if the thought of doing that scares you, you're probably addicted and actually do need one big break from all of them. Enjoy the process, enjoy your time and most importantly enjoy yourself because until you do, no one else is going to enjoy you either.
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We'll tell you why online dating doesn't work for most guys, and how to actually meet every now and again, but rarely from anyone you actually want to date. The top 6 reasons why online dating doesn't work, particularly for over Anyone you meet on a free app has been trained to believe that there.
Online dating just isn't for me. You can't help, but think, "Damn, where have you been all my life? In the end, I met my wife in person, at a party. Why is there this disconnect between the sexes when it comes to online dating. Is there some magical solution Confused About Bumble? Bizz, BFF, Boost, and Next Modes Explained With its many functions and modes, the Bumble app caters to people interested in dating, meeting friends, and even networking.
Read More that would make all of the nice girls and all the nice guys of the world come together more easily?
Close your eyes and think of the perfect guy now open them. My response seeing as men complain that they don't get a response and women are just being rude: And while I had the same reaction as you, that ironically one day Ryan too might end up on a dating site, I really wish for him that he does not because dear god it is an ugly parallel dimension! We're dealing with generations of people that have been bred to compete with one another and ultimately not see each other as equals but as enemies of a sort. For dating sites like OkCupid and POF where the profiles are typically longer, this formula creates a winner every time:. It was always my responsibility to make sure the date was interesting.
Your email address will not be published. As a woman on an online site, personally I want the man to make the first moves for the first few times. Women like to be pursued and men should initially be leaders that way. Well, lets see, I live in Boise, Idaho.
There's a starter for you! It just plain stinks here. I am a almost 55 and in good shape, yes, that's someone else is perspective. I was married for 24 years: I have dated many women I found "attractive".
I don't think so! Do women have to settle? Online dating here in the Treasure Valley is exceptionally bad due to it is very family oriented atmosphere. Most women I found I was attracted with online websites to other than their physical attributes is their profile. Many women are either bombarded or the file is fake or maybe my profile and images need adjusting? I'm not sure, dating right now at least with online dating is at an impasse.
I do understand the pool becomes smaller the older you get. Women in the old days were very old fashioned and real ladies which the great majority of women really were at that time. Today quite different and Not ladies at all either. Good guys seem to think good women are looking for assholes. So perhaps good women have a reason to be cautious all around. I wish people would acknowledge how much of finding love is the luck of the draw, not a meritocracy.
Hi Folks, I won't reveal who I am on OkCupid, But i'm a software engineer and I made my own program to datamine the profiles to find out the odds of everything. I don't live in Melbourne, Australia but I datamined this city as an example. What it revealed was the following:.