You've replayed it a hundred times. She stood three feet away, scrolling her phone. You had an opening. You composed the perfect line — after she was gone.
For all you know, she's married now. To some guy who said something. Anything.
Openers are cheap. Almost any sentence works when it's delivered within three seconds. The expensive part is the standing there, drafting and deleting, while the window quietly closes.
The "22 Rules" stripped out my hesitation. What to open with, how to keep it alive, and the one habit that costs guys more women than anything else: waiting for perfect.
She asks it casually, mid-sip. And you feel the floor open up, because the honest answer is work, gym, and a couple shows you're half-watching.
Women rarely say this out loud, but a man with a life is attractive before he says a word. The guy who spent Saturday deep-sea fishing and came back with photos and a story — he walks in already interesting.
The "22 Rules" pushed me to build a life worth talking about. Turns out the fastest way to be interesting to women is to be interested in your own life first.
You remind me of one of my best friends who I grew up with in Indiana. He’s got a child with a mentally ill woman and he’s got the mental strength and will power of a god. I dated a legit bpd for 4 months recently and felt the sting of it for several weeks after I dumped her. Like intense withdrawals symptoms that I thought for sure I wouldn’t have. I knew what I was dealing with and from the very beginning was planning to jump ship and did so as soon as the crazy came out. I cannot imagine being a blue pill guy getting caught up with one of these women not knowing what they’re capable of. Sadism and evil are understatements.had a child with one..
the evil I've seen...
theirs no way to explain it. no way at all, wish I could, but I just cant. no possible way I can describe the experience and what I had to do to survive.
fvcking brutal man, brutal as fvcking chit.
everything they say, do, live, all leads to one goal, death and destruction. that's what their born to do. and they do it with smiles and kindess, while slowly killing you.
every time she reaches out, thinks about, contacts you, she has death on her mind.
think I'm crazy? lololol
I've known a few guys that died when i was younger, some was suicide, drunk car accidents, overdoeses.. it was because of girls. and those idiots didn't even have kids,![]()
Three seconds. That's how long it took. Your shoes. Your posture. The way you held your drink. Whether you looked at the floor or looked at her.
She already filed you away. Interesting. Boring. Safe. Bold. Before you even opened your mouth.
Everything you say after that is just her confirming what she already decided.
So stop rehearsing lines. Fix the first three seconds. Stand tall. Look up. Smile like you mean it. Walk like you belong wherever you're standing.
The words come later. The impression comes first.
She didn't want you. She just needed to know that she could have you and you showed her that she could. Mission accomplished on her part. Mission. Failed on yours. Do not pass go. Do not fall for this trap again.So the BPD I posted about from years ago has returned and I fu*ked up. I was about 1 year totally sober from this chick. Didn't call, erased number, no contact, the works. She hits me up on my old phone saying some sappy nonsense. I held out for a month. I didn't respond even though everyday it was a struggle. Like a true recovering junkie I responded. Big mistake. Fast forward to a month later I pay for a portion of her ticket to come see me. I made her pay for a lot of it just out of principle and for the fact that she is very unpredictable. She had flaked on me many times in the past and I wasn't gonna shell out hundreds of dollars on a ticket just to get flaked on.
Sure enough about a week out she comes up with some issue. Apparently I am player and her parents don't think its right ( shes in her mid twenties adult, ex stripper who has never listened to her divorced parents ever) and that she doesn't want me to expect sex because she not giving it blah blah blah blah. Long phone call, a lot of yelling and talking over each other. A lot of her saying " I don't know what I want" etc etc. I basically got gaslighted for her not coming. It was my fault somehow.
I have made a lot of progress but relapse is always hovering over me. Its been 3 yrs since I have seen her and she still has not changed. I always imagined that she would be different. They never change. This brings back bad memories of what a borderline is like. I haven't had to deal with them for 3 years since I moved away and dated more healthy women. I think the universe did me a big favor by her not coming out here. I am going on a date with a sane women this weekend so I should be ok.
Your buddy Dave has been single for three years and thinks "hey u up" is a valid strategy. Your other buddy Mike just got dumped and told you to "just be yourself."
You showed them her text. You asked them to decode the emoji. You drafted four responses and sent the screenshot to the group chat for a vote.
She's been waiting forty minutes.
Put the phone down. Stop crowdsourcing your love life. Type something that sounds like you. Hit send. Then go do literally anything else with your evening.
I occasionally view the top subreddits on Reddit and filter by growth over 24hrs. There is a BPD Reddit Topic that is consistently in the top 100 subreddits by growth of around 1% PER DAY. Either BPD is becoming more common or awareness of BPD is becoming more common. The Subreddit is BPDLovedone.I also think the whole thing about only 2% of the population having bpd is total bs. I’d estimated it’s actually 10-20% if you looking at the single women population above 25 years old.
Totally right. I told this story to an ex who is a therapist and she said almost exactly what you said. The BPD wanted the satisfaction of knowing I still cared. Well it hurt her broke azz too because she had to come out of pocket with a large chunk of her ticket.She didn't want you. She just needed to know that she could have you and you showed her that she could. Mission accomplished on her part. Mission. Failed on yours. Do not pass go. Do not fall for this trap again.
If it's any consolation to you, they do like a challenge and pursue stoic guys as it mirrors their yearning for love in a way that mirrors their childhood yearning for love form the parent/s that failed them. Hence why alot of them have distant or absent Father's. Weak guys don't offer them this challenge and get chewed up and spat out after a few short weeks unless they husband them up in a Beta provider kind of way.Totally right. I told this story to an ex who is a therapist and she said almost exactly what you said. The BPD wanted the satisfaction of knowing I still cared. Well it hurt her broke azz too because she had to come out of pocket with a large chunk of her ticket.
It crazy man this is the only chick that makes me look like a fool. Im like Wiley Coyote falling for every trap. I am usually a pretty stoic strong dude.
That makes a lot of sense. Thank youIf it's any consolation to you, they do like a challenge and pursue stoic guys as it mirrors their yearning for love in a way that mirrors their childhood yearning for love form the parent/s that failed them. Hence why alot of them have distant or absent Father's. Weak guys don't offer them this challenge and get chewed up and spat out after a few short weeks unless they husband them up in a Beta provider kind of way.
You paid for dinner. You drove. You said "whatever you want is fine" every single time. All the effort, no expectations.
And she left anyway — probably for a guy who makes her pick up the pizza.
Painful. Also predictable. Her mind quietly concludes that anything requiring zero effort from her is worth exactly zero. You became a free sample, and free samples get taken for granted.
The 22 Rules flip the dynamic. Small shifts that get her investing effort, money, and time in you — until SHE'S the one afraid of losing YOU.
Is she still hot?So the BPD I posted about from years ago has returned and I fu*ked up. I was about 1 year totally sober from this chick. Didn't call, erased number, no contact, the works. She hits me up on my old phone saying some sappy nonsense. I held out for a month. I didn't respond even though everyday it was a struggle. Like a true recovering junkie I responded. Big mistake. Fast forward to a month later I pay for a portion of her ticket to come see me. I made her pay for a lot of it just out of principle and for the fact that she is very unpredictable. She had flaked on me many times in the past and I wasn't gonna shell out hundreds of dollars on a ticket just to get flaked on.
Sure enough about a week out she comes up with some issue. Apparently I am player and her parents don't think its right ( shes in her mid twenties adult, ex stripper who has never listened to her divorced parents ever) and that she doesn't want me to expect sex because she not giving it blah blah blah blah. Long phone call, a lot of yelling and talking over each other. A lot of her saying " I don't know what I want" etc etc. I basically got gaslighted for her not coming. It was my fault somehow.
I have made a lot of progress but relapse is always hovering over me. Its been 3 yrs since I have seen her and she still has not changed. I always imagined that she would be different. They never change. This brings back bad memories of what a borderline is like. I haven't had to deal with them for 3 years since I moved away and dated more healthy women. I think the universe did me a big favor by her not coming out here. I am going on a date with a sane women this weekend so I should be ok.
Unfortunately yes. She is slightly older looking but she didn't let her weight balloon. She was an 8/10 before and maybe a 7.7 now. I really wish I could show pics She is super cute rather than hot. Super cute is much more dangerous than super hot.Is she still hot?
You can upload them else where and share the link that way there is no pics posted here. Now we're all curious you keep saying you wanna post themUnfortunately yes. She is slightly older looking but she didn't let her weight balloon. She was an 8/10 before and maybe a 7.7 now. I really wish I could show pics She is super cute rather than hot. Super cute is much more dangerous than super hot.
Dinner ran three hours. She laughed at everything. You walked her to her car thinking this one's locked in.
Then: nothing. Two texts. No reply. What happened?
You did what most men do on a great date. You filled every silence, answered every question, and left her with nothing to wonder about. No mystery. Nothing to sit with when she got home.
Rule 3 of the "22 Rules" changes the ending: tell her a little, hold back the rest, and let her imagination do the chasing. The ghosting stops too.