JuicyBest asks:
I dated a guy for almost three years, and I cheated on him, but despite everything I did to him he still said he loves me. I broke up with him because I started dating a guy who I recently broke up with, and he still says he loves me. The truth is, for now, I just want to be single because I’m 19, and 300 level in university and I want to focus more on me, school, and a business I intend setting up for myself when we resume. But I don’t know If my plans are ok.
Hi JuicyBest –
So, um, I have to say, I think your plans are FANTASTIC! Sure I would have suggested you not cheat on your boyfriend, but you were young, and it’s a lot better than cheating on a husband when you have three kids and a house! So, hopefully you learned from that experience.
And in fact, that’s what I’m getting most from your letter – that you’ve learned a lot from experience. And this has put you in a place where, although two good (or great) guys are saying they love you, you want to focus on your schooling and setting up a business. I think that’s just great!
You do have a couple of choices, though, now. You could tell one or both of these guys that you need to be single for a while (say, a year or two), but you’d love them to stay in touch with you, maybe hang out at times, but just not get involved physically or romantically. One good thing about doing that is that you’d get to learn a lot about them. Would one say “Forget it, if I can’t have you for a lover, I don’t want anything to do with you!”? Well that would tell you a lot about what kind of partner they’d be long-term, wouldn’t it! Or if one says “Okay, but I’m going to need to date other women while I wait for you,” you’d get a chance to see what sort of guy he’s like with other girls – how he treats them, what he learns (maybe he’d even come to you for advice!). Or, yeah it’s possible one of them could say “I’ll just stay single and wait for you.” And that would say a lot too.
What I love about what you’re doing is that you’re setting your boundaries, and saying who you are and what you want. How these guys, or anyone else, treats you is then up to them. But you will then learn who likes or loves you AS YOU WANT TO BE, and who can’t accept it. Which is just the best stuff to learn for your future!
After all, if Handsome didn’t love the wild uncontrollable puppy I was, there’s no way I would trust him to love the more mature goofball I’ve become!
So I say to go for it. And maybe let me know what this cool business is! I’m really impressed!
Cheers,
Shirelle