That sentence contains at least five follow-up questions she WANTS you to ask. Where in Florida? What brought you here? How long have you been in the area? What do you miss? How does it compare to here?
She handed them to you on a silver platter. And you said, "Oh cool. I come here every week. I love this band. Ummm... pretty crowded tonight."
She smiled politely. Nodded. And never texted you back.
I was that guy for years. Talking too much. Listening too little. Panicking about my next sentence while she was literally feeding me the answers.
Then I found 22 rules that fixed the whole thing. Rule number one: shut up and listen. She'll tell you exactly what to say.
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.
dude,.....i feel for you bro! but keep going strong with NC...WalkingStick said:Day 5 of NC for me.
We were together for a year, but the last month or two of our relationship I started to get clingy and pathetic and she practically ignored me for a weekend after I flipped out over a guy friend (even after I calmly and strongly apologized for).
It wasnt until a few days after the break-up that I realized I had given up WAY too much of my life for this girl. I lost the funny, awesome, social guy I once was and she didnt feel the same way anymore. I had become smothering and insecure. She told me she couldn't keep doing this for 2 months until graduation and she didnt want to "lead me on" that we would get back together after graduation because she wasnt sure anymore.
I'm not mad at her, I almost wish I had something to be pissed at her for to make NC easier. She never lied to me, we've always been great together, but I started to lose myself. Looking back, I am genuinely disgusted by the AFC behavior I was displaying.
I needed this for myself. I know I will be stronger for it, but I cant help feeling like I want another shot with her. Either way, its NC. I still catch her looking at me sometimes, but she has made no effort to contact me otherwise. It's so hard going NC because I feel like she's going to forget about me.
Regardless, I know I need to focus on me. I'm hoping she will come back to the revitalized DJ, because it still hurts and I still think about her ALL THE TIME.
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.
Rough, man. You have to stay strong. It's time for me and you both to start moving on. :box:CancerPilot said:I slipped up and called her last night after 2 of my male cousins suggested to call her..From the the call:she just doesnt want to comeback to me....BACK TO DAY 1 of NC starting today.........SIGH
You and me both, pal. Stay strong. We are in this together.WalkingStick said:Looking back, I am genuinely disgusted by the AFC behavior I was displaying.
Thanks bro....i feel better today...going on day 2 of NC and really ramping up my pursuit of aviation training..........btw,it really helps listening 2 male buddies here in my city whom i lost contact with over the years....i get strength from them....and relatives have given me strength by saying they believe in me to SURVIVE this breakup(using NC)WalkingStick said:Rough, man. You have to stay strong. It's time for me and you both to start moving on. :box:
You've said it a hundred times. Maybe a thousand. And every time you say it, you train your brain to freeze the next time she walks into the room.
Leagues are a myth invented by guys who are scared of women.
She's a person. She has bad breath in the morning. She picks songs she can't sing in the shower. She overthinks her own texts.
Walk over. Say something. The league dissolves the second you open your mouth.
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.
I think you need to basically treat it like I did with my ex. We have children together so constant communication is required. Just keep it business like, don’t drift into any convo other than class related. If she tries turning the convo into anything but class. Just be polite and get out of it as quickly as possible without coming off rude.JLW said:The no-contact challenge starts for me.
This one is really tough. we have THREE of the same classes together. That's 12 hours a week having to see her! (I go to a product design school, so the classes are really long studio-style classes)
When we broke up she said she wasn't really interested anymore. We had been dating for 2 and a half years.
I responded by saying, "Okay, well I really don't want to break up with you because I still really like you. But if you feel that way there's not really much to say."
She said we could still be friends, and I could call her whenever I needed to, and I simply responded "I don't think that's a good idea..."
She tried to hug me goodbye and I said, "I don't know if that would really be appropriate..." Trying to hug me after she dumped me seemed kind of strange...
FAST FORWARD TO SUNDAY, 2 DAYS AFTER THE BREAK-UP
So I have not contacted her at all. Since we go to the same school and have the same classes, I saw her in the modeling shop, making some models for class on Monday. I was in there too.
We were sitting in the sanding room, about 6 feet away from each other. The room is really small so we do not have much of a choice. We were both minding our own business and it was EXTREMELY awkward.
To break the ice, I went up to her and said "oh, are you making the breathing apparatus portion of your project now?" (she's making an avalanche survival thing)
and she said, "yeah I forgot to buy the supplies for the goggle part so I'm doing this now."
I replied, "Cool. Looks good." and walked away, continuing to do my own work.
But I realize now that it was a mistake. it was just an indirect way of me saying that it was okay that she dumped me, i still like her. I learned from this and I will not be doing it anymore
Does anyone have any advice for ignoring your girlfriend even though you still have to spend a lot of time with her in class and stuff? I mean, literally working 6 feet away from her in a sanding room and not even acknowledging her existence is REALLY hard! 2 and a half years in a relationship is a long time.
Obviously I won't be sitting next to her in class or anything like that. But how should I handle myself? Should I say hi to her if we're walking past eachother in the hallway and stuff like that?
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.