Relationships Tips

Ulterior Motive


Direct Answers - Column for the week of June 7, 2004

Life was not this complicated a year ago--said laughing while banging head on keyboard. I can make this short, but there is so much and I want to be fair.

Stage one: friends. A friend decides our relationship needs to be advanced to a sexual/dating level. This was probably his objective when we first started hanging out, however, I could not picture us together. He was not my type, the age difference was huge (15 years), and I just couldn't see an "us."

Stage two: friends plus. Imagine my surprise when I fell head over heels in love. He quickly and effortlessly became my favorite person in the whole world. Once we started sleeping together, well, he's the best I ever had, and he's said the same about me. Regardless, it's been a huge headache.

He's got this nice little routine that works for him, and I never once worried about losing my independence because he was so dead set against losing his. It didn't take long to realize I adore this man, and we fit great together. The beginning of the end was saying this aloud to him.

I know the rules: always hang up first, leave them wanting more, never give details, blah, blah, blah. But I made the decision to love him and that negated the Barbie and Ken mating ritual in my mind. Not in his. The chase was the most exciting part to him.

Stage three: stage fright. He "loves me but is not in love with me." (What does that mean, anyway?) We started the cycle of break up, just friends, get together, have sex, break up, etc. We finally stopped dating, again, two months ago. I've been heartbroken since.

Valerie

Valerie, in one of P.G. Wodehouse's novels, Bertie Wooster says, "It's like Shakespeare. It sounds well enough, but it doesn't actually mean anything." That is what we think of "I love you, but I'm not in love with you." It sounds well enough, but it doesn't actually mean anything good. What does it mean? It means "I don't love you."

One line of your note jumped out at us. "He's got this nice little routine that works for him." That's the situation in a nutshell. He's got this nice little routine that works for him. Not for both of you, but for him. And he doesn't want to change. You believed his objective from the start was to advance your friendship to a sexual level. Friendship was never his objective.

It might help you to think of this man as a confirmed bachelor who keeps women on a shelf until he needs them. Or think of him as a married man, married to himself. It is futile to pursue a confirmed bachelor or a married man.

What is in your heart? That there is a purpose to dating. There is a goal. You want someone you love, who loves you, in a mutually exclusive relationship leading to marriage. Once you realize you cannot go there with this man, you can move on.

Wayne & Tamara

Science Fiction

I recently had sex with a girl from work. It was only a bit of fun, and it only happened once, but now she says she is pregnant. I made it quite clear I do not want this baby, but she has not even considered what I have to say. She is keeping the baby.

Now, it's like I have been used in some way. My head is in bits. Is there some way of dealing with this so she cannot come to me in the future asking for money?

Earl

Earl, if H.G Wells' time machine actually existed, you could go back in time and wear a condom while you are having your "bit of fun." That is no less a fantasy than believing you are not financially responsible for your child.

Wayne & Tamara

About The Author

Authors and columnists Wayne and Tamara Mitchell can be reached at www.WayneAndTamara.com.

Send letters to: Direct Answers, PO Box 964, Springfield, MO 65801 or email: DirectAnswers@WayneAndTamara.com.


MORE RESOURCES:

Relationships, communication theme of Friday's Warner Robins council retreat
Macon Telegraph (blog)
After ending at 7 pm Friday, the retreat will continue Saturday from 8 am to 3:30 pm OV Brantley, a former attorney for Fulton County governmental bodies, told council members their internal relationships are important to strong operations and images.

and more »


Reflections: Relationships are gifts in life
GoErie.com
Life is relationship! It is impossible to be alive and not be in relationship. You are in relationship with everything around you. At this very moment, you are in relationship with the world around you through the breath you take, through the sights ...



CBC.ca

Depression Linked To Adolescent Bullying
Medical News Today
"Often the assumption is that problematic peer relationships drive depression. We found that depression symptoms predicted negative peer relationships. We examined the issue from both directions but found no evidence to suggest that peer relationships ...
Depressed Adolescents More Likely to be BulliedPsychCentral.com
Depressed adolescents likelier to be bulliedTimes of India
Depressed adolescents more likely to be targets of bullying: StudyHealthJockey.com
U.S. News & World Report -Expatriate Healthcare
all 46 news articles »


Cara Dorris '15: The fiction of relationship?
The Brown Daily Herald
Most people will tell you that there are two types of relationships at Brown: rigid, Facebook-official romances and hurried, efficient and occasionally chronic hookups. Though there are exceptions, most of us brag that we're too busy, even too selfish ...

and more »


PsychCentral.com

Optimal conversation lowers stress in relationships
Times of India
Young couples who easily engage in rewarding conversations with their partners, experience less relationship stress and higher satisfaction, say researchers. According to research from Kansas State University, young adults who have optimal conversation ...
Going With the Flow of Talk Brings Couples CloserPsychCentral.com

all 12 news articles »


Jamie Kennedy Talks Relationships, Valentine's Day Plans and Playing 'Cupid ...
Hollywood Reporter
As for his research of the role, the actor joked, "I went to Zales," before admitting, "I think I've been in enough relationships that that was my research." Not that he claims to know what he's doing. "Being in all of my relationships, I'm even more ...

and more »


Relationships Art Exhibit at the SCAHC Gallery in Sussex
NorthJersey.com (press release)
In the Relationships Art Exhibit, the Sussex County Arts and Heritage Council is asking artists to explore, well, relationships—any relationship. And what seems to be a traditional subject for art can prove to have numerous possibilities when viewed ...

and more »


New Relationship Book Aims to Help Readers with Love, Life, Partnerships and ...
PR.com (press release)
This book touches on the topics of love and relationships. New York, NY, February 11, 2012 --(PR.com)-- In The Circle of Love the author discusses love as such a beautiful thing but when it goes wrong people find themselves unable to comprehend their ...



Healthy relationship examples crucial for youth, experts say
Maxwell Gunter Dispatch
In the race to stop domestic violence, educating children before they date can provide the awareness for healthy relationships when they become adults. In the crucial years before youth start dating, parents and peers impact children's perceptions of ...

and more »


At NRC Hearing, Signs Of Improving Relationships
Fox Business
However, it offered several hints that personal relationships on the five-member commission may be improving less than two months after they boiled over at a pair of congressional hearings. The tensions have raised questions about the nuclear safety ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map
© 2010