Reply #17: lots of reasons, I suspect... [View All]

[harmonicon]

safety (you know what this life is - it has no surprises), fear (fear of being hurt, alone, having to start over), stability (if you're renting a house, or god forbid have a shared mortgage with someone else, how the hell do you just leave? what about possessions, pets, cars, etc.?), not wanting to seem like a bad person (you have loads of friends in common, and you would be the horrible person that abandoned someone else), and, yes, most importantly, love (you love this other person incredibly deeply, despite the present circumstances, and are willing to suffer so as not to hurt them).

It sucks, but I do understand it. Damn..... damn, damn. I had one of the most romantic nights of my entire life just sitting and talking with someone, but I don't think it's going to happen again. She lives with her boyfriend, and they'll probably stay together and move away from here in a year or so, and my life will keep going, and I'll always wonder what could or would have happened if circumstances were different, and where she is, what she's feeling, how she's doing.... oh well.

It's not nearly as bad as wondering about what the hell is going on with the person who dumped you because they were unhappy and actually went through with it.

I've been in every possible role in all of these situations, and I still don't understand how the heart works or why, ultimately, we and others make the decisions that we do.