r/lonely 4d ago

How do I accept the fact I’ll be alone forever? Venting

How do I accept the fact I’ll be alone forever?

Exactly what the title says. I (33M) have been in one relationship in my life. That was during college and while it was very serious (lasted four-plus years), it ended a decade ago. I can probably count on two hands the number of dates I’ve been on since.

I just don’t see how I will ever meet a woman who is romantically interested in me. I have very little social life, I have a small group of friends from a former job and basically no one I talk to anywhere near regularly outside from them and my parent and sibling. I don’t have many hobbies. I have depression and social anxiety, and it’s the last one that I feel really holds me back. I’m not the type to go out to events or places by myself and talk to strangers; I’m just not. As much as the thought of being alone terrifies me, the thought of putting myself out there like that, being uncomfortable and risking rejection, might be even worse.

I know that statistically speaking I will probably find someone, but in truth there’s a very large part of me that absolutely is convinced I will never find love again. I had my chance and blew it, and that’s that. I know for a fact my ex has moved on, and part of me is happy for her, but I also feel… jealous, I guess. In truth, if I could go back in time and try to correct the mistakes I made that led to the breakup, I would.

It sucks. I miss intimacy. I hate feeling like everyone but me has someone, like I’m missing key milestones. I miss having a partner and the feeling of being in love. Part of me is sad about the fact I’ll never have a kid, even though I try to rationalize it by telling myself it’s best I won’t pass my genes on (my mental health sucks, and I do wonder if it’s ethical to bring a child into such a troubled world) but ultimately that’s largely something I say to just make myself feel better.

I know I have a tendency to see the grass as “always being greener,” and I know things I value now, like autonomy, will change if I had a relationship, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling like I am just desperate. Yes, I would rather be single than be in a bad relationship, but why does it have to be one of those two? Being alone is literally my worst fear, and I genuinely believe that’s my fate. It sucks. It truly is enough to make me want to end it sometimes, if I’m being completely honest.

Life could be worse, absolutely. But why do I feel like I’m missing such a vital part of life, and why am I condemned to such a fate of loneliness?

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u/Fun_Parsnip6511 4d ago

I really think you need to stop focusing on finding someone and really just put yourself out there just be yourself and honestly you will attract someone. It seems that you aren’t really going out. My recommendation would be to join a group. I joined a group called 222 it’s available available in my city where you get invited to go to this event. Everyone there doesn’t know each other but you can meet some really great people. I’ve had wonderful conversations with many people, I download the app called Meetup and I join groups that have similar interest to me. I found a group that I am able to practice my French with. I’ve also found a skate group where I can practice skating. I have the Disney pass so I join one of the Disney pass group so basically they have the Disney pass. We all meet up at Disney and just hang out. With these groups there’s so many options and everyone’s so willing to welcome new people in because that’s the point of these types of groups. There’s some groups like I want to do this, but not alone and post what they want to do and a group of people just show up and do it together.

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u/Fun_Parsnip6511 4d ago

By the way, when you go to these events, don’t expect to talk to everyone and don’t expect to make any immediate connection and I’ll honestly most of the people I talk to today that I’ve met on these groups after a few times of being in the same group we eventually found that we have things in common or we’re able to talk very easily. It doesn’t happen immediately so just keep going And you know you can be upfront and say I’m a little shy and you know what a lot of people are very understanding. I’ve been upfront about having anxiety and you know what they opened up about having the same similar issues as me many people have similar situations just some people are able to mask it a lot better and actually made us closer after we spoke about it. Everyone in these groups is very open and are expecting all types of characters so it’s actually very easy to speak to them without being afraid.