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.
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'm trying my hardest. I hate that I have all this lust for her still. And right now other girls cannot competejoker79 said:one chance per girl per lifetime. Don't look back.
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.
theonersss said:funny, your mind is a funny thing, I picture her partying and screwing every guy she meets. Not thinking about me or careing and all i do is think about her ALL THE TIME. but in reality it was 5 years together! shes probably going thru the same thing i am.
is she hot? mine is and hurts like hell. so I am trying to think of how her beauty is depreciating at a fast rate (she is 33 going on 34) her skin is beginning to sag a little yet has a freaking hot body. I also think of how broke she is (cleans homes, offices, sells jewelry on the side along with her 64 yr old mom) and how stupid she is to let me go (make over 100K, educated, handsome, fun, attractive) and how stupid I was to play along with her crap for that long of a time. I also remind myself of how she was such a reformed slut and acted so prude yet corrected me on the # of condoms that come in those small boxes sold at 7-11 and how she would keep saying that she was saving her cooch for her future husband to which I'd just laugh so hard and she would roll her eyes!theonersss said:haha naw, i have three boys and their names all begin with "r". im trying to hang in there. i am. god its tough.
When a woman says it, guys hear a confession. A heads-up. A scheduling conflict.
Here's the translation: I don't feel anything. Right now. With you.
Watch what happens when a man triggers actual attraction. The busy career, the recent breakup, the "not in a place to date" — all of it evaporates instantly. The same woman who was guarding her freedom is suddenly free every night.
The "22 Rules" explain why. When the right switches flip, her timeline rearranges itself around you.
cgr68311 said:Short story:
Her 36 single mom from a married guy, married a 54 yr old dude when she was 27, kept flirting with older guys so dumped her on Thxngiving, took her back, then got dumped for being violent in front of my son (I slammed my car dashboard because she began having contact with her ex husband and refused to introduce me). I know this was wrong but I did it because she kept pressuring me to hire her for a job I had promised her which technically got me laid. We were together for 6 months.
I picked up my stuff on day 0 where she hugged and kissed me yet warned me to keep the good bye nice or else she would call the cops... I immediately left and sent her a good bye email telling her what I really thought of her (not having boundaries with ex, possibly sleeping with me only because of that job promise, etc. I also told her that I would start healing and forgetting as soon as I pressed SEND and hopefully it wouldn't be too late when she realized me. I also told her that she can keep excusing herself from life long commitments because of seldom angry outbursts such as what I did or what her ex hub did (slam a door on her kid - end result = divorce. Last, I used the same PS. line as one of her last bf's good bye email: 'P.S. Try to get out of that room' (she still lives with her parents)
Since then, I deactivated my phony FB profile, and had gone no contact. I have zero reminders, links etc. I just have my exwife (whom my exgf had added as a contact) telling me that she is logging into her whatsapp constantly and has only done that the two times we've broken up. In any case, her kid's electronic stuff stayed in my car and she just texted me asking for it.... so far these are the options I contemplated:
1. ignore her
2. reply and tell her to f** off
3. reply 'I left it at X police station, exagerada (means exaggerating person in Spanish)'
4. reply I dumped it near her house along with the rest of her junk
5. drop it off at her place by leaving in the yard or porch
6. reply only if you tell me why you really dumped me
7. tell her okay, to meet me at X place and beg her to forgive me, that I am remorseful, responsible and willing to provide restitution
Yep, I'm still doing it every day after 5 months. It just hurts a lot less now. For whatever reason the memories linger. It doesn't bother me as much anymore because I accept it.Lotus Effect said:And you will keep replaying lots and lots of moments in your head. The good. The bad. The pathetic. All of them will be replayed.
You asked her if she wanted to grab coffee. Then you asked if the time worked. Then you asked if the place was okay. Then you asked if she'd prefer tea.
Four questions. Four chances for her to say no. Four signals that you're terrified of making a decision.
Plan it. Pick the place. Pick the time. Tell her where to meet you. She'll either show up or she won't.
Either way, you look like a man instead of a scared little boy.
I wouldn't do that. You're not calmed down. Wait a week at least to do anythingcgr68311 said:NEWSFLASH! I am on my way to her house... planning on replying to her text:
I'm outside. my kid just asked about yours, lets talk please. I am calmed down and very remorseful and want to be responsible, make up for my actions
You can bet your ass on that mate!bateman72 said:I think my road to recovery will be a lot tougher than hers. If our paths do cross however in the future. I will be a changed man. she probably wont change at all.
Reasonable. But still went for it. I could not hang on to her kid's toy (portable game player) much longer without (most likely) pissing her off.joker79 said:I wouldn't do that. You're not calmed down. Wait a week at least to do anything
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.