Divorced w 3
Master Don Juan
Very true. They may not even realize in the moment what they are doing, but it will catch up to them eventually.You have to keep boundaries. Whenever a woman asks/requests/hints some change in your behaviour, it's mostly about testing your boundaries of being manipulated.
For example, I am in a very sticky situation right now with a woman I have been seeing for about two years. The crux of it is whether or not a future beyond dating and mutual commitment is in the cards. The steady line from me has been, yes I’m open to it, including having a child but she would need to pursue a certain type of job in a certain type of location (all within her career trajectory and possible, to save everyone reading all the extra unnecessary background). The rationale on my side is really simple; finances and building of a family are intertwined, it’s not graduate school level economics to understand that certain careers don’t make the money necessary to pay the overhead of long commutes to work somewhere for the sake of saying you work there; if the family and the future are the priority then that’s a tough but necessary decision to make. Further, there was a graduate degree recently being pursued and it was supposed to yield opportunities within the next year that increased income. She is already done with a semester so that’s on track - but wavering now, actually out right stating that she is not interested now, on the part of the plan which changes jobs to something more lucrative and / or relocates more locally for economic reasons and family development.
This is important. Its important because it forms a basis for whether or not we become engaged; it’s important because what was a joint idea (albeit not one she loved but at least agreed) is now a unilateral one; and if the relationship moves ahead on the basis of this new decision she made, I’ve essentially discarded a real need not just for me and her but for the kids and everyone’s overall best interests.