Next Monday you'll feel more confident. After the gym you'll feel more confident. After one more drink you'll feel more confident. After you get a better haircut, a better jacket, a better job.
You've been "getting ready" for two years.
She's standing ten feet away right now. She'll be gone in four minutes. No amount of preparation will manufacture the courage that only comes from moving your feet.
Walk over. Stumble through the first sentence. Let it be clumsy. Let it be imperfect. You will feel more alive in those ten seconds than you have all month.
She calls you when her car breaks down. When she needs help moving. When some guy she's actually dating treats her badly.
You're the listener. The reliable one. The guy who would treat her so much better, if she'd just open her eyes.
She won't. You trained her to see you as the low-effort option — the friend who requires zero risk and zero investment. Every favor dug the hole deeper.
The "22 Rules" break the pattern. You'll stop auditioning for a role she already cast and become the man she chases instead. It starts with Rule 1.
Attraction runs on a clock.
She flirted for weeks. Touched your arm. Found reasons to be alone with you. And you were careful. Respectful. Waiting for the right moment.
The moment had a shelf life. It expired around month two, and by the time you asked her out, she'd quietly filed you under "little brother."
One of the hardest lessons inside the 22 Rules: women rarely wait. Interest either grows or it decays, and nothing decays it faster than a man who never moves.
Make the move while she's still inventing reasons to be near you.
Yeah man 5 solid years.f283000 said:Sorry to hear that brother. Did you say 5 year relationship??![]()
I think this is very sad man, I felt that way when i got burned a very long time ago, i was afraid to love again and had my guard up to avoid getting hurt. My guard was officially down and i loved freely the last 2 years of our relationship, and then happens. I believe when a man loves a woman, He is strong about it but women may take it for granted, thats why so many men act cold.Poonani Maker said:I'm sorry, fella. You have good memories with her. Cherish them. My heart is as calloused as a mother fvcker. I never get hurt anymore. Not sure if there's any REAL love for. a. woman. in me anymore. I have love for God. I love myself too. That's where my reservoir resides, with God and myself, and my natural father and fellow man. Most women are too weak to be responsible enough to handle my love. Maybe one will surprise me one day. I'm not going to count on it though. Most women are not dependable. {not homo}
Dude, im not a little girl, I broke down yes because i fell in love with a woman who claimed and acted like she was in love with me through out the 5 years. im 27 and i have been through strong relationships and was afraid of fully falling in love because i wanted to protect myself, its when i loved freely i got hit. Its a very sad thing and IMO unfair to men because we provide and try but women end up taking it for sh!t.Last_straw said:Oh boo hoo. Are you a little girl or something? You broke down? Please, get over it. She did you a favor, now you have more time to bang other girls. How old are you? I'm guessing young, only a young guy without much life experience would be this melodramatic over a girl.
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.
Knowing the world around you collapsing bit by bit and she breaks up with you, she's the enemy now.Don't give her the satisfaction to see you hurting. No contact her all the way. Don't validate her worth by letting her see you hurting. That ***** can get her attention fix elsewhere. You have more important things to be concerned about.In2theGame said:Thanks alot for the support guys, couldnt sleep too well but im taking a deep breath right now. Im sure crying didnt help but i couldnt take it since so much has happened to me in the past 2 months with my mother sick in the hospital, court dispute, Business capital took a big hit, car accident, i was in the hospital and now with my girl saying she needs a break,.... was the final nail in the coffin. I feel sad for my mother too, my mom views her as a daughter and when my mom was really sick in the hospital, she told her "I feel better knowing if something happened to me, my son will be ok because i know u will take care of him", that angers me knowing that this girl is pretty much throwing everything we've built together in the last 5 years away when she told me how much she wanted to marry me and be together, i let me guard down and i get a huge slap in the face.
i was on skype last night talking to my brother and after she called me to have "the talk" earlier that night she gets on skype at 4am and comes out of no where with this: "R U Ok?" "My Heart is hurting and i feel so lost", "My Mind is going crazy right now" , "You took our relationship status off so fast, it hit me so hard", "I just dont know what to do with myself, Im so so Sad" "What are you doing? I just feel like giving up on everything in life" "I have to lay down, im getting crazy" "I feel so sick"
What the hell does all this sh!t mean, I was trying to avoid talkin to her, Im giving her what she wants, to be away from me.... I think i need to be a rock and stand my ground strong!. im going to assume shes into someone else, fvck it, nothing i can do. I did my best those 5 years.
I HATE when guys say stuff like this,as if the mere fact that we're men means we should be cold and unfeeling.Last_straw said:Oh boo hoo. Are you a little girl or something? You broke down?
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.
Sorry to hear about the breakup. A couple of questions though: Can you see where you went wrong? What happened to get to this situation?In2theGame said:Damn dudes, im hurtin right now... as you guys have seen my other 2 threads with whats been going on with my girl. We had a talk earlier,.. and my worst fear has come to light. The woman i thought i was going to marry said she feels so lost and needs to find herself in life,. she was crying/i broke down and it was just a mess. I asked "what happened to us" she just kept crying saying she cant stop thinking and feels she needs to find her way in life. She feels like we need a break from each other so we can see if we are meant to be, i guess i can respect that she needs space. Well... dont know what the future holds but... this is for sure a very sad day for me after this 5 year relationship. thanks for the support some of you have given me, which i needed and would also welcome more support. Thanks SS community.
You know that point where you hit ROCK BOTTOM.In2theGame said:sure crying didnt help but i couldnt take it since so much has happened to me in the past 2 months with my mother sick in the hospital, court dispute, Business capital took a big hit, car accident, i was in the hospital and now with my girl saying she needs a break,.... was the final nail in the coffin.
I know what WON'T be in your future... HER.In2TheGame said:Well... dont know what the future holds but...
Thanks Ster, Where it went wrong, i can honestly say this.. the first year i remember, we fell in love with each other hard, the feeling was mutual and we just felt it one day looking into each others eyes. I was not looking for a relationship, just sex, and she wasnt looking for one either. It just happened.SteR said:Sorry to hear about the breakup. A couple of questions though: Can you see where you went wrong? What happened to get to this situation?
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.