Hi Sticks! One day – just for fun – you'll have to tell me YOUR story and we can cry in our beers TOGETHER...
By the way, does your recent quote "I am one of the nicest guys you'll meet and will do anything for someone who needs help if I am able" include clearing brush?? 'Cause I REALLY need some help with that...(especially if you have a big honkin' chain saw and a brush hog....)
You COULD be my new BEST friend!!!!
It's good to hear that you're not so screwed up that you're rejecting the relationship thing altogether...
Boatbuilder – WOW you're a poet! REALLY enjoyed your first post regarding the "keeping it alive" question... I think that's the greatest challenge to EVERY relationship. It seems that the quote "familiarity breeds contempt" comes into play nearly every time, and it's our challenge to prove it WRONG. We have to actually WORK at keeping things interesting and nurture ourselves AND the relationship (just like Cariblue said – we have to be "creative!"
...And it is human nature (especially a man's!) to be responsive to visual stimuli – nothing unusual or upsetting about your head spinning 180 when a well-dressed woman walks by! Wouldn't bother me any!
(Personally, I'm obsessed with men's buns...)
Another theory that I have is this...we have to love OURSELVES first, before we can expand that love to others. By loving ourselves I don't mean being selfish – just honoring ourselves by acknowledging and respecting WHO WE ARE, including our negative "shadow" side. Honoring ourselves by regularly "taking out the trash" – whether it's physical or mental, so that it does not eventually impair our ability to function...
It sounds like SO much work...but it FEELS so much better to know that you are tackling your issues, moving ahead, steadily improving, and BECOMING the person you WANT to look at in the mirror every day... a person who is able to love and be loved...