You have no obligation to keep anyone in your life, especially someone that wants to keep you as an option in the future.
A relationship timeline doesn’t need to pertain to marriage. But what if you expect a commitment from someone to be monogamous within a few months? What if you have been dating for five years and haven’t met your partner’s family?
Suddenly his demeanor changed, and he became more somber. “My wife doesn’t get me these days.” Perhaps he was expecting me to divulge something about my husband and a lack (he hoped) of communication and affection. I remained silent, and he smiled, reached his hand over, and slowly squeezed my upper thigh affectionately.
At least half of the group answered incorrectly, with their girlfriends beside them. Yes, the video could have been staged, but be honest: oversights or lack of attention to seemingly effortless details can be earth-shattering.
Scheduling intimacy as a whole may seem a bit boring in theory, but the reality is that you have to make time for it, or else you may start feeling less connected to your partner. It can give you something to look forward to because if you take the time to have open conversations, you may learn something new about the other person’s personal preferences.
Recently I saw a single close friend who made an off-handed remark that she won’t ever date someone who has just gotten out of a serious relationship.
When asked why she answered, “They play the role of a boyfriend because it’s what they are used to, which makes it hurt more when they don’t commit to a relationship.”
After multiple abusive and toxic relationships, I realized I had to figure out why I was constantly attracting this energy into my life. I began to identify the traits within myself to figure out how to prevent it from continuing to happen in my life.