For the first time in a while, I met a guy who I liked.
He is intelligent and really kept me on my toes. He challenged me to think and was quick to offer suggestions on areas that are important to me. He is quite handsome. He is a go-getter who is always striving to achieve new things. He is quite cheesy which in itself is quite endearing. His idea of a good joke is along the lines of this:
What is brown and sticky?
Answer: A stick
Cheesy, right? There were a lot things about him that I had noticed and stored up to ask him but I never got to it because he kept breaking one of my biggest pet peeves. He tended to leave in the middle of a conversation, only to return days later and continue as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. I spoke to him about it after it occurred a couple of times and he explained his disassociation to social media. While I understood where he was coming from, the point still remained, that an headsup before the disappearing act would be fantastic. He managed the request once before reverting back to the habit, worse than before.
I considered scolding him. I considered ignoring the behavior. Then I realized how ridiculous I was being. I had set a simple standard and he did not respect me enough to uphold it or even attempt some compromise on the way we communicated! The simple answer wasn’t to spend time trying to get him to change or ignoring the behavior. It was simply, to stop the flow and move on.
As I get older, I appreciate the importance and pleasure of being able to look myself in the eyes each morning, in the mirror. I like him but if I had taken one of the easier options, I would have eventually lost the respect I had for myself and felt like an hypocrite.
It wasn’t the easiest decision I’ve made this week. It sucked but I feel extremely proud of myself for standing up for the standard I had set. It’s very empowering to show respect for yourself.
