Reply #46: Everyone of a certain age has baggage [View All]

[skygazer]

You may have acknowledged and dealt with your baggage but it is still a part of you. It has shaped you just as everyone's past shapes them. And though people can and do move beyond the chaos of their past, it doesn't mean that all that shit just magically disappears.

A lot of times, what people carry as baggage is distrust and pain caused by a failed relationship. The only real way to banish that is to discover that one can trust and rely on another without being hurt. Unfortunately for you, that means the women you meet may need to learn to trust you - they may not be in a position to openly invest themselves without stepping into it carefully.

If you cannot handle dating people who have more complex issues, that may well be a sign that you haven't dealt with YOUR baggage as completely as you believe you have. Because no one at the age you're talking about is going to be starting with a clean slate. That's not remotely reasonable to expect.