I tend to look at "other people who want to be with me" for a gauge. See, when you compare behaviors of people in your life who are known to have respect for you and are known to want to have you in their lives to the behaviors of newly met people, the result is a handy measure and reallity check.
The thing is, people just don't
do certain things when they WANT to have you in their lives.
For example, when you call your mother and leave a message, does she call back? When you make plans to do something with your brother/sister/cousin, do they flake without a call/reschedule/warning?
I've found that this simple relation cuts through a lot of mind clutter and gets to the point: I can just skip right to the "she must not want me in her life" assumption and get on with other business.
And, to further have your head right, ask yourself this:
When you call your friend/mother/brother/cousin and leave a message, and they don't return it, how much do you stress over it?
Riiiiiight, you don't, really. Seriously. Think about it.
Typically, if you leave a message, you instantly get on with life without giving it another thought - sometimes you even forget you called at all, don't you?
I personally fuxing hate phone/schedule games that women play, so I don't play them. And...
NO TEXTY GAMES!
It's a god-damned Nintendo Game-Boy Chat game for women, I swear. Talk about some high-school study hall crap for teeny-bopper chicks! I wish more guys would see it that way. Texts are for things like: "cant rtrn call: in mtng", "Section 8, row C, 43", "look left!", "Dude said 7th st., not 'Seth' st.", "grab 2 limes on the way, plz", and other such brief, no-response-needed, disseminations of information/intruction. Texts ARE NOT FOR CHATTING!!!!
There is a reason "chat" is called "chat": it's a spoken conversation.
"r u ok?"
WtF do you care if she's ok or not? You just met her! You have no investment! Creepy. Clingy.
Neeeeedy.
:kick: