She says the movie looks dumb; you suddenly agree. She tests you with a little attitude; you apologize for nothing.
You think you're being easy to get along with. She reads something else entirely: a man with no edges. Nothing to hold on to. No friction, no tension, no reason to wonder what he really thinks.
The "22 Rules" taught me to push back — playfully, calmly, without needing her approval. Strange things happened after that.
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.
YawataNoKami said:Marriage is a minefield. If only fifty percent of land mines actually blow up, are you really going to walk across that field telling yourself that not all land mines are like that?
Are you going to willingly enter a game of Russian Roulette where there are three live rounds out of the six chambers in the gun? Are you really going to hand someone (her) a loaded gun (marriage), and then beg her not to pull the trigger? (divorce, financial support demanded, separation/alienation from children, shift in friendships and family life)
In the mine field of marriage, every day, week, month, and year is a new step in that field. Every fight, disagreement, trip, party, and even the seeming minor events are just another step in the field.
No matter how carefully a man can navigate the field, even if he can walk through the field without an explosion,she's still got that gun and she can use it at any time. No thanks.
I think it's a combination of factors: feminism, social acceptance of divorce and single mothers, job opportunities for single women who are willing to work, generous alimony provisions for divorced women who are not willing to work...The social environment has changed dramatically in a very short period of time. In 1970, Alvin Toffler wrote a book called Future Shock. In it, he argued that "disorientation" resulting from rapid technological and social change was the cause for many of the social problems at the time. Today, we are seeing a new kind of future shock: the sudden and rapid breakdown of the traditional family structure in late 20th/early 21st century and its devastating consequences on the kids growing up in this environment.Social_Leper said:I believe the high divorce rate has less to do with feminism's impact on female solopsism and more to do with the fact divorce is so much more socially acceptable and there is a huge safety net for women that wasn't there 50 years ago - not to mention the fact women have greater opportunities in the jobs market too.
^^^^ LISTEN, can we STICKY THIS? Not this thread, just THIS quote?YawataNoKami said:Marriage is a minefield. If only fifty percent of land mines actually blow up, are you really going to walk across that field telling yourself that not all land mines are like that?
Are you going to willingly enter a game of Russian Roulette where there are three live rounds out of the six chambers in the gun? Are you really going to hand someone (her) a loaded gun (marriage), and then beg her not to pull the trigger? (divorce, financial support demanded, separation/alienation from children, shift in friendships and family life)
In the mine field of marriage, every day, week, month, and year is a new step in that field. Every fight, disagreement, trip, party, and even the seeming minor events are just another step in the field.
No matter how carefully a man can navigate the field, even if he can walk through the field without an explosion,she's still got that gun and she can use it at any time. No thanks.
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.