Redditor SpeedyMammoth wanted to discuss why love has been kept from so many, so they asked:
"What’s stopping you from being with the person you love?"
Sometimes... it's just not meant to be.
One Sided
Love Me Do Not Want GIF by MOODMANGiphy"The feelings are not mutual."
MrTumnus__
"Same. Been 5 years. Hurts much less but a lingering pain is always there. Especially since I've not been able to find love since."
NouveauQubecois
Happy 4 U
"Thought I met my soulmate actually. We met in college and were friends for three years. Always thought he might have a crush on me but he was in a really bad relationship and I would have never gotten involved. Then they broke up, we started hanging out more and things just felt right."
"When we did start dating, it was incredible! No relationship is perfect but I’d never been so happy and in love. First time a man has looked me in the eyes and said 'I can’t wait to marry you' and honestly I still think about that some times. Anyways, he cheated on me with his ex, got back with her and then they broke up after a week or so."
"A couple of his friends left him because he just changed into a really shi**y guy and I’m actually still friends with some of them myself. Now he’s doing what he loves and I’m happy for him! I just wish things had worked out, almost two years later and I’m still struggling not to think of him every day. I really hope I can get over him and find my own happiness again."
sadsporkyy
Closed
"She wanted us to be open. I wanted us to be exclusive. I was deeply in love with her and I really miss her. I ended up breaking up with her. Aside from that one incompatibility, I think we were a near-perfect fit. We had a wonderful relationship and it ended amicably, but it’s really hard to let go of someone you genuinely love when your relationship didn’t really have any problems. It took all the willpower I had to go through with it, and it was very painful."
CaptainTripper
Life pro tip...
"She’s with someone else."
MrOuija313
"We’re both with someone else and there are kids in the picture."
"Life pro tip: the person you are the most compatible with in your teens or twenties is not necessarily someone you will always be compatible with as you get older, especially once you both realize what it means to take care of kids all day every day."
persistentporpoise
Gone
Sad Rabbit GIF by Muffin & NutsGiphy"She died."
OrigamiApple
"Me too bro. Sorry for your loss. Sorry for all our losses."
Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum
"Same. I've tried again over the years. It's not the same. I'm sorry for your loss."
exactoctopus
Loss is always the one of the number one reasons.
Taylor Knows
Looking Around Music Video GIF by Taylor SwiftGiphy"Me. I am the problem."
hiyesgood
"I have a lot of trauma to deal with and I’m still trying to figure out who I am as a person. I didn’t think it was fair for him to ride along until I get to a point where I was mentally healthy. Could be months. Could be years. Thankfully I’ve been in therapy for 8 months now while changing my lifestyle. I don’t expect him to wait for me so I do my best to not reach out."
hiyesgood
In Time
"Bad timing. But we always find one another. Hopefully we get together before I'm too old to enjoy it."
moffettusprime
"Exactly this. She was my first and we were too young. It never worked out for us because of bad timing. Somehow I will always have this lingering hope that we will end up together. Even though I recently met a girl I am crazy in love with and this feeling has pretty much disappeared to the background."
GreenLurch
Issues
"She doesn't want to be with me. Part of it is her trauma, part of it is my trauma. Our traumas don't play well together. Her instinct is to avoid intimacy, my instinct is to seek it out. Really shi**y. I already have clinical depression, loneliness, and insomnia. What's your reasoning for breaking up? She's got an avoidant attachment style so when we got too intimate, she would pull away. I sought reassurance, got too needy, and pushed her away."
SomeDudeinCO3
What's to Be...
"Some people aren't meant to be loved, but you can't help it if you fall in love with them."
ForwardMountain2808
"You absolutely can help it if you fall in love with someone not 'meant to be loved.'"
"Boundaries, confidence, and self-respect will help you fall out of love with anyone that doesn’t want to be with you."
"Have a cry. Hit the bottle for a weekend. Then compose yourself and saddle the F up. There’s a whole world of people out there - good people - and you get one chance at this spinning rock."
"Don’t you rob the world of your love and don’t rob yourself of the experience of receiving love just because it didn’t happen with the person you thought it should."
HamburgerJames
Be Strong
Screaming Season 4 GIF by Broad CityGiphy"Fear of rejection, I don't know if she is even willing to have ANY relationship at all."
Meme_Lord_E
Love is a battlefield, as they say, so keep your armor and wits about you when you fall... and maybe you'll be caught off guard in the best of ways.
My love is worth more than that.
"True love because my true love is 5 trillion dollars."- ImOnARush.
Freedom to do what you love.
"I'm gonna be really honest, I'd choose 5 million dollars."
"Having that much money means financial stability."
"It means not having to work for money - that wouldn't mean not working ever again, but doing a job you really love even if it doesn't pay well."
"I would be able to study without worrying about burdening my parents."
"I could achieve my dream of getting multiple degrees."
"Money isn't just money, it's opportunities."
"Without having to worry about money, I could focus on improving myself in every way - getting healthier, studying more, having a stable routine, reading a lot, overall becoming the best version of myself."
"I'll have plenty of time to find true love, improve relationships with friends and family and everything else."- lux_blue.
GiphyMoney over love any day- no matter the amount.
"5 dollars."- SpaZzzmanian_Devil.
"SHOW ME THE MONEY."- _starvingartist.
Im Rich Make It Rain GIF by Way NationHow much is true love worth.
"Money."
"Love can't pay my bills."- LiteLit.
Money can't buy happiness.
"True love."
"Moneys cool and all, but I'd much rather be in a loving relationship."- WhiskersCleveland.
But money can buy a lot of other things...
"5 mil, I’ll wipe my tears with hundreds."- Weary_Gate7941.
True love...with a rich partner.
"Genuine true love."
"It didn't say my partner and I would be poor."- moonIightbaby.
"The greatest thing, you'll ever learn..."
"True love."
"I have been alone all my life."
"I’ve always had toxic friends because i told myself i deserved it, i told myself 'at least they want to be friends with me'."
"I have a narcissistic mother and a dad that isn’t emotionally there because of his own trauma."
"I have a sister that flat out ignores me when I talk and my other siblings are too young for me to have the kind of bond that i need right now."
"I have an amazing best friend but it’s different than having someone that loves me and i love back."
"If you had asked me a month ago i would’ve said 5 million."
"I would’ve been lying."
"If you had asked a year ago I would’ve said 5 million and I would’ve been telling the truth. true love is priceless."
"I’ll be winning 4 million on the lottery tho."- 76543210987654321.
Nicole Kidman Kiss GIF by 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentGiphySome might say being truly, madly in love feels like having five million dollars.
While others might feel that having five million dollars feels even better than being in love.
Others might simply strive for a little bit of each.
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"Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
It's an old saying that rings true. Whether you move on from your first love, or end up together forever, falling in love is part of our growth as human beings.
Redditor u/dirtykid15 wanted to hear details on people's heartbreaks and happily ever afters, and asked... "What happened to your first love?"
10. They didn't have the courage
"I didn't have the courage to ask her out even though she was clearly interested and then life happened and I haven't seen her since."
9. Jealousy got in the way
"Dated for 3 years in high school. Summer before senior year she turned crazy. And I'm not just saying that. She would get super jealous of me going to work, because "other girls worked there". We went to the same school, so my job was really the only place where I saw other girls and she wasn't around. I had given her no reason to not trust me or be jealous at all the previous 2 years.
She came into my work one day, didn't order any food, and just sat there with her mom and brothers and watched me work to see if I talked to any female coworkers. It's a job, I have to communicate with my coworkers. Needless to say, a female coworker asked me to do something while she was there. She got pissed right there in the restaurant, confronting me and everything. I told her to leave. We broke up a few months later, haven't heard from her in years. Feel bad for any other bf's that have come behind me!"
8. His friends made sure it never happened
Giphy"Long story short, I wrote him a letter in 8th grade, his female friends found out, and then teased/bullied me into high school. He never answered the letter, or even talked to me again. I never asked out anyone ever again and have been single since."
7. They're living a full life
"Last I saw he's a real estate agent in Encinitas California. We dated when we were younger in Ontario, Canada. Seems to be doing well, has gained some weight (but haven't we all), married to a hippy but cute chicky and they have a kiddo who unfortunately has a cystic fibrosis.
He was a great guy, from what I've heard he still is. *I wasn't stalking him, while out in California visiting friends I saw his real estate ad. Unbeknownst to him, got that friend of mine to use him and buy a house with him! He was the one who told me about the wife and kiddo also about a surf fundraiser which I also anonymously donated."
6. Lost a partner and a good friend
"Childhood sweethearts, he was my best friend. We lost touch. He got married, I am with someone else. I am happy for him and wish him the world. I still think about him, losing his friendship sometimes feels like I lost a limb. I have moved on though."
5. Unfortunately, they passed away...
"She died on my 33rd birthday. It had been 18 years since I first told her I was going to marry her, 11 since I did."
4. She was toying with them
"We dated for a few months, then one day she said she wasn't comfortable with dating. I didn't even get to kiss her. But wait it gets better. I thought this sucks but I guess it can't be helped. Then a week later I see her dating someone else. And she was kissing him too. Now I'm not a hateful person, okay. But if there is one thing I absolutely dispise, It's having my feelings and emotions toyed with. Now I have trouble trusting the people close to me."
3. They never matured
"Dated for 5 years. He stayed the same, I grew up. Hes still doing just enough to make it, drowning himself in substance. Hes a good guy for someone, just not me."
2. They were married... kinda
"We were married in preschool but I moved away. Met him again when I was 18 or 19 and he was such a genuinely lovely guy and remembered our little wedding! We aren't close now but I wish him the best."
1. They actually got married
Giphy"He's sitting next to me on the couch eating the soup I made for dinner and complaining about The Last Jedi.
Married for three years."
I'm browsing reddit and she's playing Runescape. Cat is lying strategically between us so that he can get pets from either side. Coming up on 20 years' married next March.
