[26M] Looking for New Ideas & Dating Advice

Hi all,

I'm a 26 year old guy with a great sales job and a great network of friends. I'm not awkward at all, very social and very confident with myself. However, it's been over 10 years since I've had a relationship and secretly, I'm very lonely.

My upbringing was rough, and I had to grow up too quickly. I had to deal with alot of things that a pre-teen / teenager shouldn't have to deal with.

All my friends (men & women) tell me that I'm not going to find a girl younger than 35 who is at my maturity level. While I appreciate the compliment, I also don't want to accept that. I feel robbed of my childhood and more than anything, I want to reclaim that by dating someone my age. So a couple years ago, I swallowed my pride and started to do things like online dating apps (5-6) and responding to personal ads on Reddit. Both have been resounding failures.

I understand rejection is a part of life, and I have a good professional perspective on that due to my job. But after 10 years of personal rejection both IRL and online, I'm feeling depressed. However, I'm still trying to assess what I can do differently and not give up hope.

Any thoughts, feedback or new ideas on how I can deal with my situation would be much appreciated. Thanks everyone.



Submitted February 17, 2020 at 11:53PM

Hi all,I'm a 26 year old guy with a great sales job and a great network of friends. I'm not awkward at all, very social and very confident with myself. However, it's been over 10 years since I've had a relationship and secretly, I'm very lonely.My upbringing was rough, and I had to grow up too quickly. I had to deal with alot of things that a pre-teen / teenager shouldn't have to deal with.All my friends (men & women) tell me that I'm not going to find a girl younger than 35 who is at my maturity level. While I appreciate the compliment, I also don't want to accept that. I feel robbed of my childhood and more than anything, I want to reclaim that by dating someone my age. So a couple years ago, I swallowed my pride and started to do things like online dating apps (5-6) and responding to personal ads on Reddit. Both have been resounding failures.I understand rejection is a part of life, and I have a good professional perspective on that due to my job. But after 10 years of personal rejection both IRL and online, I'm feeling depressed. However, I'm still trying to assess what I can do differently and not give up hope.Any thoughts, feedback or new ideas on how I can deal with my situation would be much appreciated. Thanks everyone.
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