baseballa25 said:
Hey guys, me and this girl are seeing each other..not technically dating, but we agreed to be exclusive.
Why do I suspect that you were the person who initiated this arrangement?
Oh right....because you said THIS.
How do I gain power in this relationship while not risking her walking away?
As the other guys already said, you have to be able to risk her walking away.
It doesn't mean PUSH her away. But you have to accept your role as the ruler of your world. That means she's entering your world, and if she doesn't play by your rules, then she can get the F out.
Those games she's been playing? You don't play those anymore. If she's flaky about plans with you, you can't get mad. In fact, if she does anything to provoke you, you cannot give an emotional reaction. She needs to understand that she doesn't control your frame.
Basically, the main thing she needs to understand is, the show goes on without her. She can't make it out for beers tonight? Fine. You're going out anyway. She tries to provoke you by saying, "Baseballa, you want to be a pro ball player? I'm not sure if you're strong enough for that." You brush it off like, "Right. I'll take that into consideration. So, what you been up to?"
She has to see that you're unshakeable and that what she says/does has little impact on you.
There have been situations where I've wanted to choke the s*** out of girls, but the only response they get out of me is "Right. That's cool."
Hah...I was at some party with my last gf (now an ex), and I was off talking to some girl. Not even flirting. Just talking. My ex says, "I bet you want to f**k that girl don't you." I say, "Not really. Do you?" She says, "That's fine. A couple guys here have been hitting on me." I say, "Oh yeah? I bet they are. I would too."
Crap like that drives these game-playing girls nuts. They thrive on controlling men's anger, sex drive, love, etc. Take it away, and there goes their power.