Back when I was younger, I cheated on my second girlfriend. The side chick ended up getting pregnant. Fortunately, it wasn’t mine, but that’s another story. My ex girlfriend wanted to work things out, but at the time, I felt that she’d ultimately come back and cheat on me, so I just ended it.

Looking back, I didn’t really feel much remorse. I liked her, but I don’t think that I was really “in love” with her like that. I don’t know how she really felt about me, but I may have been her first or second “love”. I was a sophomore in college and she was a senior in high school. I don’t remember having that heartbreak feeling and after a day or two of feeling slightly down, I just moved on without much thought. I really didn’t want the side chick either though. I liked her too, but at the time I found out about her pregnancy, we had been ‘broken up’ for about a month so I was basically over her too. I didn’t have that “in love” feeling with her either.

To be honest, I don’t think that I was ever “in love” with any of my ex’s. As said before, I liked them a lot. But the breakups just weren’t nearly as brutal as with STBXW. My first girlfriend cheated on me with some guy and though at the time, I was bit hurt for about a week or so, in certain ways, I felt a bit of relief. In fact, pretty much after all of my relationships, there was a bit of relief after the break ups. I also had a long term (2 or 3 year) friends with benefits situations where she ended up moving. I helped her move and even drove her to her new location. It was a bittersweet ending, but it wasn’t like I felt terrible about it. I’ve had a few other long term relationships here and there and none of them felt anything like how my STBXW in the end. I never wanted to marry any of them. In fact, looking back, marriage never even crossed my mind until I met her.

My experience with STBXW has taught me that being “in love” just isn’t for me. It’s like an infection. It’s a drug. It’s something that’s difficult to get rid of once you get it in your system. I’m still not quite over STBXW in a way that brings me peace. It hate it. It’s been a few years now. I don’t want her back, but for some reason, i have to keep reminding myself not be so angry with her. Like, even if I could snap my fingers and make her want me back, it would only be for me to reject her. I don’t even entertain thoughts of us getting back or reconciling. Yet, for some reason, I have difficulty letting it all go. I wonder if this is karma for the way I did my second girlfriend.

I just want to be able to put this behind me. And look forward to a future with me someday loving someone who reciprocates….like the old days of me liking someone and her liking me. Maybe I just need someone to get over this. Maybe that would be the last step in my healing. I don’t want to be in love, but I do want to love someone. I guess, it’s the loneliness. I mean, I can do without having someone, but it’s a cope. I do have female friends that I talk to. My lover moved away though we still communicate fairly frequently. Still though, it’s cool to have someone to be able to go out with and share things intimately with. I don’t know if I’m really ready for a relationship…

I have however recently met this woman who I think I like. I’m going to shoot my shot soon. We had a few pretty decent conversations and I could see myself dealing with her. So far, the conversation has been pretty good. Though I may disagree with what she thinks about certain things, at least she does a decent job of explaining WHY she thinks that way. This is a good sign.

Either way, I just plan on taking it slowly until I get to know her better. I could see myself just going out with her, no sex expected (whatever happens happens though) and just seeing if she’s someone I’d like to possibly get serious about. I realize that I have to be more assertive and intentional as far as getting with a woman instead of relying on luck and happenstance to find one. Even if not with her, it’s a good sign to see that I’m open to trying a relationship.

I just have to be careful not to make the same foolish mistake as I did with STBXW and actually ‘fall in love.’ I just have to keep the mantra, she’s never yours, it’s just your turn while having to balance being nice and always having one foot out the door type of deal. Redpill theory says that women aren’t attracted to nice guys. I’m going to challenge that and see how true it is. I think you can be a nice guy (not pushover), but just be careful not to give too much of yourself as I tend to do when you fall in love.

I never thought that I’d say it, but I think my dad was on to something when he was cheating. I’m not saying to be disrespectful and inconsiderate with it, but perhaps having something on the side can prevent you from developing the ‘one-itis’. As much as women say they want you to be monogamous with them, I think that they lose attraction if you only have eyes for them. You can’t just be in love and only have 1.

The thing is, she can’t find out about it unless u want to deal with her being hurt. And if you do love her, you have to be very careful and discreet. If this is indeed true, then it’s almost like having a side chick is like medicine for them. They don’t like taking it, but unfortunately, it’s necessary if we want to have a ‘healthy’ relationship where we both are happy.

I don’t care what women tell me about this. Until I’m proven otherwise and one actually leaves me for cheating ( i never cheated on a woman since that one time) ….I’m convinced that it’s a necessary evil. All 4 of the other women I had relationships with cheated on me when I didn’t have a side chick….just saying.

I know it sounds stupid, but hey, put it this way, also among my family and close associates, the only difference (insofar as success, looks, personality, etc.) between the women who stayed and were faithful and the ones who strayed and cheated is whether or not the man is faithful.

It’s ass backwards. If he cheats they tend to be more faithful and also deal with his other bullshit. If he is faithful, she ends up cheating or leaving for less critical bullshit. I know broke dudes who are consistently unemployed, drink too much, aren’t that intelligent, want to be rappers and so forth who’s women hold them DOWN, won’t leave and didn’t cheat (as far as I know).

I also know a high school principal, shift supervisor, major studio production Best Boy, and a corporate 6 figure earner who were all financially stable, fairly bright, non alcoholics/drug users who’s women either just up and left or cheated on them. They were all faithful men. These men were supportive, thoughtful, and seemed to adore these women. They are what I’d call good guys. Not to mention my own horror story.

… cheating… in my mind anyway seems to be a necessary evil. I really don’t know why this is, but it seems to be a pretty consistent. Sure, they’ll complain either way, but for some reason cheating (as long as it’s not too frequent) seems to make them be more willing to put up with his imperfections a bit more. I think it’s like women’s intuition or something but they have to know on some level. But even when they find out, they tend to stick around longer.

Two keys to this is doing it while she’s “in love in the honeymoon phase” AND you also have to be/act intentional with her. Like really be almost in simp mode. Buy her things, take her out, and do all of those things that she likes. If you don’t have a side chick, then you can be hot / cold … intentional /aloof….but that’s only going to take you so far.

I gotta take it back to my second girlfriend who wanted to work things out despite thinking that I had a child on the way. Before then, I really didn’t believe that she liked me that much. I was actually surprised that she wanted to work on it. Dunno man, the world is a crazy place.

STBXW came down for a few days over the last week or so. I suppose she isn’t ‘talking’ to anyone right now as she wasn’t glued to her phone or texting that much. This kept me from being triggered as I used to feel that her texting other men in front of me was disrespectful. I may still feel that way, but I don’t know yet.

It made me realize that all in all….I really don’t hate her as much as I once did. I think I’ve forgiven her. Mostly. I realize that we cannot be together as I don’t trust her. But if I am to accept her for who she is, I have to realize that she probably can’t really help who she is.

We really just don’t see eye to eye in this whole marriage thing. Like most women, she says one thing (the thing that SOUNDS right), but you can never really know what she’d actually do. She’s principled in words, but not necessarily in actions.

However, outside of her infidelities, we never really fought too much. She’s not a terrible person to get along with. She doesn’t nag much and is pretty easy going. I’m not sure how we can resolve the whole disrespect thing until we are officially divorced though. She has to accept my boundaries until we get that part fixed.

It’s also easy to blame her ‘secrecy’ with her money as a reason we haven’t gotten further financially…..but I can also blame myself in that I never pushed hard in trying to make her see things my way. I also didn’t have a plan or vision towards our future so I did not do so well as far as leading us in a specific direction. I have to take note of this about myself if I choose to ever get serious about another woman again.

I realize that there is so much water under the bridge between us that reconciliation as far as marriage goes would be impossible. Our sexual chemistry just isn’t there. It never really was mind blowing, though not bad either. I also have to accept the fact that she just isn’t as attracted to me. Not once did she even suggest sex. I’m not too mad about that because 1)i really don’t know if she might have contracted an STD out there and 2)sex does tend to bond you to people and 3)it was never too great to begin with. and 4)I couldn’t imagine making love to her anymore. If anything it would be a wham bam thank u ma’am.

I’m not attracted to her mentally, we’re just not on the same page. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t be cordial. I don’t have to keep being an asshole around her as long as she respects my boundaries. If another man wants to take her on, so be it. Our love for one another just isn’t passionate and though i would prefer a steady stable burn type over the passion all day. I have to be able to trust her and I truly don’t. Doesn’t mean we can’t be ‘friends.’ in the end.

I was telling one of my female friends that you can like someone and be sexually attracted to them, but it doesn’t mean that you want to marry them. It also doesn’t mean that you want a relationship with them. Some people are better off as lovers. She disagrees and thinks that sex without ‘intent’ (for a relationship?) is a waste of time. To me, it’s no different than being in a relationship and it not working out in the end.

There is no point in adding a title. With titles come expectations and that can kill the fun. Titles never stopped a cheating person from cheating or a lying person from lying. I personally think that this particular friend just wants some sort of control and power over a man in exchange for giving him the cookies. She wants a relationship so that she can use sex as a carrot and stick kind of thing. Yeah, I’ll pass on that. I like talking to her, but I believe we’ve talked each other into friendzone status.

To be honest, I think this is where we fuck up as men by getting into committed relationships. Things change once you get the title of her ‘man.’ It’s like you sign up for work and women do have a tendency to weaponize the sex. Especially if you’re all in for her and she knows you’re faithful/committed. They treat the kitty like scooby snacks and might toss u a few for good behavior and withhold if you don’t do what they tell you. Fuck that…nothing doing.

I liked the situation that me and my lover had. Just be honest with each other. If she wants to step out, just let me know and I’d do the same. I wasn’t trying to hold her back. I wasn’t trying to wife her. If she wanted to walk away, then I wouldn’t stop her even though it might hurt a bit. As far as I know, we both honored that and to me, honesty is way more important than a promise to stay committed or a damned title. I have true love for her….and I want to see what’s best for her.

This female friend seems to think that I’m just using my lover for sex. I don’t know, maybe I am, but then again, I do care for her and even though I believe that we’re better off as lovers and friends than committed in a relationship. I feel that even though I didn’t commit, I didn’t sleep around, I spent time with her, and did nice things for her. I think I treated her better than a lot of men treat their women in committed relationships. I was honest with her. Even if the sex part falls off, I’d like to hope that she’d still hold a special place in my heart.

So taking that lesson I learned from my lover, I feel that I should apply it to stbxw. It took us going through a marriage and infidelity for me to learn that. Just as I accept my lover for who she is, I should also accept STBXW for who she is….even though neither would be good as a wife FOR ME.

I should have never married STBXW and I probably would have made the same mistake with my lover had I met her first.

Being a beta in this respect makes me realize that I’m just not good for marriage. It may seem that way, in the sense of me being thoughtful, considerate, and in touch with my emotions. But at the same time, I am not one to make / force anyone do anything. I think I’m good as a stand in man. But until/unless I find a woman who I can really really vibe with. I can’t see myself wanting to step up and go out of my way to make her happy. Not just for some damned scooby snacks.

Maybe I am the problem out here. I seem to have a lot of negative things to say about the modern woman, but the reality is that I don’t really deal with too many on a personal level. Being somewhat like a single father, I don’t have much time to go out and meet and get to know a lot of women. To make matters worse, in my current day to day, I rarely see single women….at least without a kid or two in tow. When I do, it’s like I don’t know what to say to them. For some reason, I feel that I need some sort of pickup line or I need to say something funny to break the ice. I really need to come up with three or four possible lines to get myself ‘in’ since I believe that conversation can flow from there.

It sounds a bit corny and maybe it is….. but I’m not normally an extroverted person. I mean I can hold a conversation fairly well, but it seems that getting in to one is the hard part. Although rare, there are times when I do see an fairly attractive looking woman alone that I might be interested in, but I just can’t think of what to say.

Taking the direct approach and immediately showing interest seems a too direct. Starting a full on conversation like asking too many questions in the beginning seems a bit too invasive. I’ve read that if I’m interested, i should take on the responsibility of carrying the conversation….at least for the first few minutes of the interaction. But the problem is that often times, I don’t really have much to say. It’s funny that I know all of these words, but yet haven’t figured out which ones to use in these types of situations.

I don’t know if it’s ‘approach anxiety’ more than it is just not knowing what to say. I’m not actually nervous per say…. I generally don’t just start conversations with anyone because I mean… what can I say? Maybe that’s what I should ask myself.

I was talking to a female friend of mine this weekend when it hit me that I’m stereotyping women by saying they like f*boys and don’t really care for good guys. Of course (as most women do) she disagreed. I told her my theory about how they like nice guys, but are attracted to f*boys. Again, more disagreement.

But it suddenly hit me, that how can I really know that if my anecdotal experience generally comes from what other people are saying. I don’t really approach a lot of women. I never really did. I mean the women that I did somehow end up getting in my life liked me at least at one time. They were attracted to me. But I never really approached a lot of women like that like that. Even die hard players tell you that it’s a numbers game. I initiated contact with women the most was during that period of time I did online dating. I met a few here and there, but it was mostly frustrating, but of course it would be as women get approached all the time on there in that format.

So maybe I need to really rethink this whole thing. It’s intellectually disingenuous to complain and say women don’t like guys like me when I haven’t been rejected that much per say. Initial rejections don’t count either because it’s a numbers game anyway. Of the relative few times I did try to get numbers, i’d say I had about a 30 to 40% success rate….. of course things usually fall apart after a little while, but lately, especially since being married and having to care for kiddo…. I don’t have much time to go out on dates or make plans to go out with a woman. On a side note, I have decided to not bring up the being married thing….and if it gets to place where I am getting close to someone, I’ll tell them that I am separated. This is technically true and though me and stbxw haven’t explicitly said it….we’re both moving like it is true.

I digress, but the longer she is estranged, the more I realize that we’re just not right together. I mean I would have been willing to make it work…if she had wanted to…..but it’s not mission critical for me anymore. She’s just not wifey material. The fact that she doesn’t mind sharing dudes who are currently in relationships makes me realize that ‘cheating’ isn’t a big deal to her. You can’t expect monogamy from a person like that. Personally, I just need one. I’m monagamous by nature and I’m not willing to knowingly share a woman….this includes open relationships or being ‘side dude’. I like intimacy in sex way too much and I can’t kiss her knowing that it’s very likely she recently had sex with another man. I like making love….not just fucking…..and tbh, sex with STBXW felt more like sex than making love. She was never a passionate or deep kisser (though she thinks she is)….. it always felt a bit mechanical…..but she was an attractive woman….so maybe that made up for it. Sex wasn’t bad…it just didn’t feel as passionate as I would have liked. Looking back, the ‘passion’ mostly came from me. She’s definitely a side chick type. Women who currently have multiple sex partners isn’t something I am particularly excited about. This is one reason why dealing with a single woman who’s actively “dating” doesn’t really sound that appealing to me. Especially if I gotta initially take her out, potentially court her, spend time, money and emotions…. all while she is also dealing with another man. Maybe things would be better if I was already sleeping with several women already…..but again, I wouldn’t be particularly interested in doing all of that if I was already getting it in like that.

The bottom line is, I need to put myself out there more…..I need to be prepared with a few lines in case of a brain freeze. I can hold my own once in the conversation, but getting in and breaking the ice seems to be my biggest problem for now. Until I can overcome this, get into potential relationships and fail because I feel I am too nice….I really can’t complain about that in particular.

One thing I can say is that the protoype of the the type of woman I think I’d like (based on appearance) is quite rare. Too much makeup, those long ass nails, and the caterpillar eyelashes are a complete turn off to me. Some of these outfits are also turn offs. A lot of these women look too ‘basic’ to me. I like to have a connection with a woman and if she comes across as standard issue ‘modern women’ I’m not really interested at onset.

Where can I meet the earthy, artsy, down to earth non materialistic, humble, spiritual, intellectual, somewhat nerdy alternative black women. The ones who aren’t into hot girl summers, being a ‘power couple’ just for the clout. The ones who aren’t about that bougie, taking pics on the beach for the gram, sunday brunch, or going to the spa every weekend types. The ones who aren’t impressed just because a dude has a ton of money or clout. The ones who aren’t just all about the bag. The ones who have some depth to them. One isn’t selfish AF or combative all the time. The introverted homebody who isn’t bitchy. Maybe a gamer chick who isn’t a whole ho out here in these streets. One who handles her business as far as being able to support herself, but doesn’t take herself too seriously. Ya know, the opposite of most of these “housewives of hip hop “or whatever types. A few tats are fine…. drinking sometimes is a must…. I don’t really care women that are too religious, but I do like for her to be a ‘seeker’ or at least open to thinking about those types of things. One who wouldn’t mine getting her hair wet and dancing in the rain…..smoking a spliff while listening to some chill music or philosophy or something. If she does/did travel…she actually travelled instead of vacationed. For god’s sake, can she be decently attractive. I’m not saying I need a 9 or 10….. but can she at least be a 6 in looks and not be too overweight. And can she be loyal. Are there any women out here who haven’t been possessed by this consumerist / capitalist get the bag….aspire to be a ‘bad bitch’ spirit of the time.

I know that women have their unreasonable list for the ideal man too….but is this too unreasonable? I feel like if I don’t find someone similar to that, then I’m not really interested in a relationship with her isofar as being her ‘man.’ I mean sex is on the table for sure, but ultimately, I think that if she didn’t possess certain key qualities, I can’t see myself fighting for her. Most of the women I come across are a dime a dozen yet they think they are special and different somehow. As I was telling my homegirl, I don’t know if I can find a woman like that. If she’s out there, the odds of me coming across her, her being interested in me….or single, us having mutual attraction, and mental chemistry would indeed be a miracle of God. Meanwhile, I won’t hold my breath in looking for her. Besides, I would damn near fear falling in love with that woman…..but if I do play wreckless with my heart again…..this one might be worth the risk.

Love and dating is just too got damned confusing these days. I’m having difficulty adjusting to the nuances in the roles, expectations, and duties of the modern relationship.

One one hand, it seems that a lot people want traditionalism. In this, the gender roles are clearly defined as men being the primary earner/breadwinner and the woman pretty much stays at home and does the housework and raise the kids. In this paradigm, the man is the head of the house. He provides the house and the woman is responsible for making it a home. Domestic duties are all done by the woman. The man is the work horse and also responsible for taking care of the ‘manly’ jobs such as landscaping, car maintenance, fixing stuff around the house. He is also responsible for the budgeting and finances. The buck stops at him and no major decisions can be made without his approval. The woman’s role is to set the tone and mood for the house. Again, she basically raises the kids, cooks, cleans. This is basically traditionalism. Men are men and women are women. Men aren’t emotional, but stoic…..Women are emotional and can’t make good decisions unless she is stable and under a controlled environment. This was birthed out of our classic patriarchal system. It has been heavily influenced by judeo christian values. I don’t know if this was out of necessity due to women not having as many rights….or if this is just the way nature intended it…..it’s sort of a chicken egg scenario…..it seems to have worked for hundreds if not thousands of years.

Recently though, women have been given unprescedented rights it seems. They seem to be (as far as competency goes) just as capable of men insofar as non physical work. Times aren’t as hard.

In a sense, men actually built the world (as far as laying down the physical infrastucture and relatively stable institutions) and now women can live without the stresses of having to “go out and build it.” In other words, men provided the house and now women are building the home. Today women are really stepping it up insofar as getting educated, becoming doctors, lawyers, elected officials and so forth. In fact, especially in Atlanta, women really seem to be outpacing the men by leaps and bounds. They really seem focused and are acheiving some pretty amazing things. Meanwhile, it does seem like men are getting left behind. We still lead in areas of providing physical labor and security….i.e. construction work, military, policing and so forth. But now it’s more like support roles in maintaining the infrastructure that we built.

Now that women have the ability to step up their game on an individual level…..the question is what do we do with the traditional gender roles. In truth, women don’t need men per say. But neither do men need women…..outside child birthing and rearing. We both can earn a living, do domestic work, and support ourselves as individuals. Men still want things to be traditional where we are the head of the house….yet many women seem to be conflicted on this.

For example, I’ve heard many women say that if men aren’t the primary breadwinners of the house, then she has a hard time respecting him as the head of the house. This lack of respect ultimately leads to lack of attraction…..and this is why i personally think that men who aren’t the financial leaders of the home stand a great chance of losing their home and family unit over time. These women, especially if the income gap is significant, tend to emasculate their men….and many times think that the grass is greener and that they deserve ‘better.’ This is a helluva catch 22 for women if they can’t help but to lose attraction over time for this fact. They could get married and have a stable home, but who wants to stay in a situation with a person you don’t respect and aren’t attracted to. But is this truly a woman’s nature or is it something that was programmed into them. There is definitely some cognitive dissonance going on here. It’s not helped at all if there are relatively fewer men on her financial level as she climbs the ladder of financial success. Is it possible for her to overcome the notion that she isn’t ‘settling’ for a guy if she makes more money than him. Is it possible for us as men to overcome this ‘insecurity’ by getting with a woman who makes more than us. Again, I wonder if this is due to our programming set by previous cultural expectations of past generations….or is this a natural thing encoded into our dna.

Being raised in a home where my mother always brought in more income than my dad, I lean to thinking that his is programming. I recently found out that my mother seems to be quite rare in terms of her thinking about this. She had no problem with making more money, yet allowing my father to lead. In her mind, she was contributing to the HOUSEHOLD. My father worked more manual labor jobs type of jobs and simply made less than her. It’s arguable to say who worked harder as she was a school teacher and he had various jobs from landscaping, to being a maintenance man, to being a factory worker, to finally becoming a truancy officer in the school systems. But in our household it wasn’t uncommon to see my dad cooking, cleaning, washing clothes and other domestic duties. The only thing that wasn’t split was that he usually did the landscaping and made sure the cars were maintained.

This generational thing seems to have played out with my siblings. My younger sisters make more money than their men and I made less money than STBXW. All the men in the generation work, share in domestic duties, but the leadership seems a lot more utilitarian…. as in, decisions are usually made based on the practicality of the situation at hand. I don’t know who the ‘buck’ stops at…. but I’m not privy to many of those details. It does get a bit hazy.

The fact that I subscribe to this model is another reason I consider myself more beta than alpha. It seems that the Alpha male lays down the law and says it’s “my way or the highway”. Let the youtubers tell it, Alpha males don’t compromise. They take care of everything financially and in return can and should expect complete submission from their wives. One major difference between me (and my male “in laws”) is that my dad was way more demanding than we are. This did cause a lot of conflict between my parents at times, but i think the conflict would have been there regardless of income given my mother’s temprament. She’s fair and loving, yet firm and will stand up for herself.

I believe in the utilitarian model but I’m not so demanding. Perhaps this was my biggest problem in the downfall of my marriage. I didn’t lead in a way that demonstrated my domination over my STBXW. I held on to my principles and didn’t let her walk all over me…. yet I wasn’t as firm in some of my decisions. I usually sought for some sort of compromise. I didn’t stand on my principles as far as taking the lessons from my mother. STBXW was always a bit sketchy about letting me in on exactly how much money she was bringing in. Her notion was that we split the bills 50/50…..and what remained was her money and what I had left was mine. I let it slide because in a way, i was a bit insecure about the fact that she made more than me. I was a lot more blue pilled and didn’t want to make it a big deal.

I felt that a better model would have been that we split the bills based on our income percentages. In other words if she brought in 70% of the income, then she paid 70% of the bills. Even though this may seem ‘unfair’ to the person making the most income….this is how I would have have done it if I made the most money. Besides, in my mind, all of the money we brought in was OURS anyway, but it would have been distributed more evenly. The way it worked out, she still would have had more money than me at the end of day.

Me not standing on this principle and allow her to ‘lead’ in this made it so that I had less disposable income which led to me not being able to ‘afford’ to pay a larger share in family vacations or being able to buy nicer gifts for her. Because I didn’t spend as much perhaps she didn’t feel the need to use her money to get nicer things for me. The lack of transparency in our incomes also made it more difficult for me to know things like how much house we could actually afford or what kind of cars we should purchase. I thought she was quite selfish when it came to her money….yet i have to take full responsibility in not standing up for what I thought was a better way. In the end, one of her biggest complaints was that we dind’t take enough trips and that she shouldn’t have to foot most of the bill if we did.

This is probably just one example of many. And it does make me wonder if the utilitarian model really can work. Maybe this was an anomaly but her being the financial breadwinner did give her more leverage in making that decision. I still like the utilitarian model. Sometimes I do think that some women are more competent than some men in some arenas. Maybe I fucked up with that particular decision, but if I ever do decide to get married again….i’ll definitely have to do better in taking more responsibilty/ having the harder conversations, going into potential conflicts, and standing up for what I believe in. With that though, it’s going to take a woman who really can actually consider, respect, and trust me even if I do make less money than her. And the lesson here is that it is on me to demand that respect.

Maybe the truth of the matter is, despite women claiming they want utilitarian type relationships, they want to be dominated by their men. They are actually attracted on a primal level though cerebrally, they don’t like it. This is why they cheat on/leave nice guys, but stay with the alpha chad/tyrone types. Despite complaining about them.

A certain level of selfishness is required for this. Nice guys care too much, and while on paper, women like the idea…..something within them can’t help but be attracted to men who seek to dominate over them. Maybe this is why they end up (often times) brutally leaving their ‘nice guy’ husbands for men who are more demanding and less agreeable towards them. Ironically the vast majority of women reading this would probably disagree with that.

Their lack of self reflection in this area is the real reason why men should not take advice from women when it comes to dating. If what women said they wanted were actually what they wanted, then we’d have a lot more intact relationships out here.

But yet most of them have found themselves in situations with men they describe as assholes. And leaving the nice guys for some lame reason.

Alphas get left because they have to leave, but not necessarily because they wanted to. It’s like quitting drugs. One part of them really wants to stay. However in the case of the ‘nice’ guy, they leave because they are no longer attracted to him….. And many have no problem with tossing his feelings into the trash in the process.

Both alphas and betas have problems with keeping women, but for different reasons. The alpha’s woman leaves because she cannot deal with his demands and selfishness. She has to stay away from him or otherwise fall into the trap of her own attraction. However, She leaves the beta because she loses attraction for him. The alpha due to his personal affinity for cheating, lying, scheming or whatever has no problems with replacing her….. The beta generally truly loves her for her.

It’s a helluva conundrum. Either get with the good guy who treats her well but she isn’t as attracted to …. Or be with the guy she’s attracted to, but get hurt because of his insensitivity to her. Most choose both. As the saying goes, alphas fuck and betas buck. The betas end up paying(bucks) and doing everything for her while she sneaks off with the alphas (to fuck).

For me, unless I can ‘alpha up’, my best strategy is to realize that my time with her is going to be limited. I see it as that I only have a certain amount of time before she loses attraction, so I have fight the urge to get too attached. Always having one foot out of the door and seriously be ready to walk once I start seeing the writing on the wall. There is no point in trying to fix it once attraction is gone. Been there done that and it’s fruitless endeavor.

So during the honeymoon/infatuation phase, get all i can out of her as this is the time where they’ll generally be faithful. But again, never put my heart into it as sooner or later she’s going to get ‘bored’ aka lose attraction. This is why I tell women who tell me that I’d be a good catch that I’m not. They don’t understand it. I’ve given up trying to explain this to them because they never agree nor even consider what I’m saying despite the mountain of evidence out there or from a bit of self reflection.

Fortunately for me, despite being pretty average across the board, I look good enough on ‘paper’ and I have decent conversation skills. I don’t have any major deficiencies. I’m good enough superficially. I know what to say. I know enough not to oversimp for her and enough ‘aloofness’ mixed with self awareness in order to gauge how much to give and take. I’m not too nice, but not too much of an asshole. I feel that I don’t have to an incel. But I can only hide by beta tendencies for so long before I start liking her too much. For guys like me, the longer I’m with a woman who likes me, the more beautiful she becomes to me. However I’ve heard many self described ‘alphas’ say the opposite.

I don’t have the luxury of falling in love with a woman unless I want my heart crushed due to this underlying deficiency within myself.

I think that I’m a pretty average guy all the way across the board. I’m not exceptionally tall, rich, funny or handsome. But I’m not short, broke, lame, or ugly either. I’m in pretty good shape, but my body is athletic as I do work out pretty consistently and I do look a lot younger than my age would suggest. I don’t aspire to rule the world or measure up to some “black excellence” standard. I just want to live, love, learn, be healthy, active, and financially be able to provide for myself and those closest to me. If I live to be very old, I don’t want to be a burden to anyone.

I don’t care for being in a ‘power couple.’ I don’t care for luxurious living. I don’t care for instagram photo ops. I don’t strive for fame or power or leaving a ‘legacy’ behind. I’m pretty simple. One could say content. In the current culture, many might say complacent….especially In our current materialistic / hustle/ get the bag culture it could be arguable and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree. Sometimes I do find myself wondering if there is something wrong with me. Don’t get me wrong, if opportunity does present itself, I won’t shy away from it. I don’t mind working hard and doing my best whenever the the job calls for it. I am a team player.

That said, I think all that is to say that by many measures, you could consider me a ‘beta’ male. I’m not afraid of conflict though I do try to understand things from outside my own personal perspective. My goal usually isn’t to win…per say…but to gain understanding in order to create win / win scenarios if possible. I find myself saying to people a lot “It’s not about me being right or you being wrong….it’s about trying to understand why you think that way.” I just irks me when people argue with soundbites, talking points, and clever, yet out of context quotables. When asked to defend it, it’s usually some appeal to ‘authority’ or some sort of deflection. I wonder if I just don’t get it sometimes and maybe it is a lack of ‘understanding’ on my behalf….. But often times, i’m just irritated because I once thought that way as well, so I do understand the surface level arguments.

I’m pretty agreeable, but in this day and age, I can say that this may be a liability. Jordan Peterson would probably say that I am the problem (or product) of this modern age.

I really have to step outside of my comfort zone to be a selfish asshole and abandon my sensibilites about fairness. I believe that people do deserve what they work for….but I also realize that this is life and shit happens. I also believe that our circumstances aren’t always in our control…. I know many people who are just as intelligent and capable than me but yet aren’t on my level of ‘financial success.’ due to bad decisions or worse circumstances. But I also know others who aren’t but are making way more money. That said, I’m usually not impressed by (though I am usually happy for) people with great financial abundance.

It really seems all across the board a lot of ‘success’ comes down to people stumbling across it due to their individual life circumstances leading them. This isn’t necessarily due to a person’s capabilities though that does play a role in it. For example, some people gain success from starting a youtube video just so happened to be living in a time and era where this is possible. If youtube weren’t a thing, would they have their wealth? It’s not like they invented youtube, or cameras, or whatever. Yet, they are so cocksure that they’d have figured a way out. As another example, STBXW seems to believe that if she hadn’t chosen the path of being a nurse, she’d have been just as financially successful. Not to take away from the work that she put in to become one, but from my viewpoint, her work ethic and intelligence is average at best. Nurses just so happen to make a ton of money right now. I know school teachers who make way less money and are way more dedicated to their jobs. A friend once told me that even though she made a shit ton of money, she feels blessed and that she knows that it could be taken from her. So while money is important, it’s not a determining factor when it comes to who she likes. She also told me that she went to school with people making 200k + a year and she had no idea how they even graduated from university. Let alone how they landed such great paying positions. One of the most competent and intelligent person I know was the head custodian at my previous job. Although she made decent money, I know people who make way more money, yet she could mentally run circles around them as far as her work ethic, ability to figure things out, and plain old common sense.

Still though, despite that, many of us Americans seem to have been infected with this notion that we should always be striving to ‘get the bag.’ We beleive that we should always be trying to get more. And once we get ‘more’ we should be trying to how to figure out how to get ‘more.’ Back when I used to take clever hip hop rap lyrics as gospel…..I heard lil wayne say, “I’m not hungry, I’m greedy.” as a metaphor about his hustle mentality. I thought it was the way we should all be.

A quick google search of Mammon shows that: “Mammon is a powerful fallen angel, now demon, that personifies the sin of Greed and is the demon lord of avarice, richness, abundance, prosperity, wealth and injustice, most often personified as a deity.”

According to scripture: Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Ironically, even though I don’t consider myself a christian anymore….(at least not by most commonly used contexts)….the vast majority of people I know do. Yet it would seem that their insatiable reverence for luxury, material, and money would align directly with worship of mammon. They might not call it that directly, but in mind, deed, and action it appears that they do. Instead of mammon worship, they just call it ‘get the bag.’ I’ve also heard many people say “I just love money”. I’ve heard it said that “money isn’t the root of all evil, but the love of it is.” I’m sure that I’m not the only person who’s heard this common statement, yet it shows the cognitive dissonance prevalent here in America. Most people would agree with this statement, yet depending on the conversation, they would also agree that they indeed….Do love money.

On one hand greed and the desire for ‘more’ does drive capitalism. Fear of missing out, keeping up with Jones’, and feeling entitled to the “good life” also keeps people motivated from just sitting around and being bums all day I guess. So maybe it does have a place in the world.

On the other hand, the argument that people wouldn’t be as innovative nor desire to be great if not motivated by money doesn’t seem to be a great argument to me. This is often used by people who fear socialism or other forms of a more utilitarian distribution of the earth’s resources. I don’t know, it seems to me though that the thing that drive the most successful people isn’t the money that they can make, but some sort of passion/skill/talent or desire to want to do something. I guarantee that the NBA wouldn’t have a lack of talent if the top players only made 400k annually.

I keep listening to stories about infidelity on youtube/reddit posts. I know it seems unhealthy, but listening to so many stories really help me to understand the nature of these types of situations. I don’t know if it’s because the algorithm keeps feeding stories about husbands getting cheating on or if that is the majority of what’s happening, but it’s like I am seeing a very familiar pattern. They are quite similar to my story.

Usually, the husband is blindsided. He thinks that the marriage is fine. He usually says that he didn’t see any major issues. He usually loves her and is dedicated to the family. It seems that he knows the marriage isn’t perfect, but doesn’t think that his wife would cheat on him nor things are that bad. He thinks that his wife is his best friend. He is a dedicated family guy….many times working and helping around the house. These guys seem kind, considerate, loving, and providers.

From their accounts, their wives end up either getting a new job, reconnects with an old friend on social media, or hooks up with a person at their current job. The men that connect with them can be either single or in a marriage. The ‘relationship’ starts off casual at first, then gradually become more and more intimate. Once consumation has begun, the wife begins a downward spiral of lies, deceit, and betrayal. They lie, gaslight, and blame their husbands for their unhappiness, as if to try and justify their behavior. The more the do it, the more unapologetic and unrepentant they become. The new guy becomes the center of their world. Family, morals, and values all go out of the window. Many times, she’ll even put the children on the back burner. It’s as if she either doesn’t care anymore or doesn’t realize the how morally wrong her actions are. She becomes like a new person. She then further blames the husband and completely and utterly disregards the wrong she’s doing….as if she truly believes that she’s doing nothing wrong.

Once the affair is discovered, she is upset that he husband calls her out. She becomes more defiant, more sneaky…..sometimes even pretending to end the affiar, only to take it further underground. Most of the time they are unrepentant over the pain they caused their husbands. Most aren’t upset that they destroyed the trust, family, or friendship….but are upset that either the affair partner lied about how he really felt, wouldn’t leave his family, or simply broke it off once it got discovered.

The last part is the kick in the teeth for me. It seems to me that many husbands are waiting for their wives to be repentant over what they did. Unfortunately for them, the vast majority aren’t. Even if the husband tries to stick around, it seems that she won’t take accountability for what she did. It’s like she doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation. Without repentance, there can be no forgiveness. But these women seem to still be ‘stuck on the fence’ in many cases. In my opinion, and based on these stories, she most likely will cheat again. It’s best to let it go. These women have no qualms with lying to counselors, family members, her husband again or whomever in order to preserve / maintain their affairs. It’s truly a lost cause 90+% of the time. The scariest part in all of this is that they now see the husband as the enemy. Of course he’s going to feel a certain way about her cheating….however in her mind, (in order to justify their behavior), he becomes the villain. He is obstacle between her and the happiness they feel they deserve. Any imperfections the husband has become greatly magnified. As the bible says….”love covers a multitude of sins.”…..yet these sins become blasphemous once the love is gone. The husband putting his foot down and not standing for the disrespect or in many cases, him snooping based on her suspicious behavior becomes offensive and further pushes how disrespectful she becomes. They double down on their ‘justification’. Now he’s too controlling. It’s as if her being caught in a lie is worse than her actually lying. Many refer to this destructive cycle as the ‘affair fog.’

Many seem to fail to see that starting a ‘new’ intimate relationship, while denying their husbands closeness and intimacy, is rapidly causing her to lose interest in fixing their marriages. It’s like they fail to see that the discord and confusion that they are causing with their actions makes interactions with their husbands worse. And by comparison, the freedom and ease they feel with their affair partners is due to the fact that they aren’t hiding things from them and that they are actually more open and friendly towards them. It’s like they really don’t understand that the husband’s bad mood is because she was caught in a lie or was acting suspicious. They take no accountability as to how their hurtful and disrespectful behavior is negatively affecting their home life. This failure to acknowledge their wrong behavior further reinforces their waywardness. They’ll use excuses and say that they were ‘unhappy’ or they ‘grew apart’. It’s pathetic and disgusting.

I really sympathize for these men. It’s really sad. These women don’t deserve these guys. They don’t deserve the love and dedication that these guys give them. Many times, these guys didn’t deserve this. They lose their homes and families due to no fault of their own. The kids don’t deserve to lose their families over some wayward loser of a wife and some immoral douchebag who could give a fuck about the well being of the children in the relationship.

Unfortunately, many men (just like me), were raised to give his wife this level of love, compassion, and forgiveness. Often times it’s for the family, but it’s also a testament to how deeply they loved these women.

My experience and these stories have taught me that no matter how much you love such a person…no matter how much you do /did for them….no matter how sweet you think your life situation is, there is no loyalty with them. Attraction is king (not just physical) and they are willing to throw it ALL away because a guy makes them feel a certain way. Adding insult to injury, they are willing to betray, backstab, lie, and destroy you (even if you’ve done nothing wrong) in order to get their new object of affection. They will say and do anything, including lie to and destroy their own children’s homes for their own sake. They will lie and convince themselves that they are unhappy in order to justify their actions. Logic and reasoning goes completely out of the window. Morals and principles are tossed to the side. And they will never take accountability for their actions. They will either justify or deny their atrocious behavior. Despite doing all the things they know they are wrong, the cognitive dissonance they experience is quite amazing. They still think that they are good people and are deserving of some happily ever after….in spite of walking all over / destroying/ lying/ humiliating/bullying/ and hurting those who depend on them the most.

Even though karma may or may not be real, we have been conditioned by this society from kids to believe that bad people don’t deserve good things. Yet somehow, in their delusional state of mind, they feel that their actions aren’t THAT bad. It’s really scary to know that people can really change like this no matter how long you’ve known them. That family isn’t enough. That being a decent person isn’t enough. That being a good husband just isn’t enough.

Mainstream society really needs to wake up and expose these types of women. It’s a growing epidemic and maybe movies, shows, and public testimonies about these types of women can grant the public awareness to see that it’s not always the men’s faults. Maybe these women would be able to see the damage and havoc they cause if they choose this path if this was something talked about more.

Despite all of the women complaining about how hard it is to find a good man…..or how men destroy/abandon their families. Despite them growing up watching the lifetime and tyler perry movies about an unscupulous cheater who lies and mentally abuses their spouses…..and hating the villain in those movies…..they become those villains in their own life stories and somehow fail to recognize it….or either stop caring that they are.

One difference in my opinion between men and women is that Women seem to simply have poor choices in men from the jump. They might know that the guy has a reputation, many kids, many baby mothers, be in the streets, or have position where he is constantly bombarded with women. They may know that he’s a ladies man and has a history of being unfaithful. Yet they go in, thinking that they aren’t affected by his charm, while not understanding that part of the charm is getting women to fall in love. They fall in love and then act surprised when he treats her just like the other women despite her giving him her best. I don’t know, but it just seems really really stupid to me. I can see having fun with a person if you’re attracted to them, but trusting with your entire mind heart and soul is a whole different thing. Yet they do it…. as if they have no clue that was about to also happen to them. Are they really this stupid and arrogant to think that they have the secret ‘sauce’ to change this guy?

It’s the male equivalent of falling in love with a stripper or prostitute. Like dude, yeah, she’s fun, she can have decent personality….but do you really think that she’s going to be faithful to you in the long run. Do you really think you can wife her and that this is going to turn out ok for you. Are you really falling in love with a ho? I don’t know, some dudes might do this, but I personally have 0 sympathy if they do and get caught up. Like it’s common fucking sense.

On the other hand though, many of these wives start off as ‘good’ girls. There usually aren’t like blatant red flags out there. They seem sweet innocent and loyal. They say and do all the right things. They have the conversations. They seem like good wife material. But it’s like something happens in a marriage where a flip switches and they change up on you. In this case, it’s easy to be fooled since part of a relationship is trusting a person. But before you give that level of trust, you want to know their history….as it’s a pretty good predictor of what’s to come. If she was a hoe or prostitute, you already know that there are certain boundaries she’s willing to cross.

You’d think that women would think the same way when they meet a guy who has a ton of kids and women and have a reputation for cheating. Shouldn’t the unusual ‘charm’ be a clue. I mean I’m always pretty cautious around charismatic / funny people. I may give them a chance, but I always keep my eyes open because I know they are good at influencing people.

Either way, this is why I think that you can’t fall in love with most women out here….even if they come across as ‘nice/good’ girls. They seem to lack the ability to understand what ‘loyalty’ and ‘family’ is all about. For most of them it really is about the feel goods. I think that you have to always have to have the ability to walk away from any situation….even if she is talking a good game. She might actually mean what she says in the moment (you can never really know), but even if she does, there seems to be a switch that she can turn into a unempathetic, ungrateful, unrepentant, selfish person. You may not have anything to do with it. They truly transform into an entirely different person. I don’t know how many guys I’ve heard say “this isn’t the woman I married.”

God forbid you actually fell in love with her and created a family with her and that flip switches. The thing is, that you can never know….because from the stories I’ve heard, these women come from all walks of life. They/ nor sociiety in genral will hold them accountable for this insatiable/self destructive/ family splitting behavior. Society tells them that ‘happiness’ should always be their first priority.

Samsung finally decided to do right and give a decent trade in offer on the Galaxy Tab s8 ultra last week. Before, they were only offering $200 to trade in the s7 plus. As of last week, they were offering $600. Because I only paid like $550 for my s7 plus from an open box deal I got from best buy, I figured it might be a good time to make the jump.

I received the Galaxy Tab S8 ultra on Thursday of last week and have been playing around with it over the weekend. I have 14 days to either return the S8 ultra or send in the S7 plus. Is the new device worth the extra $500 I’d have to pay in order to keep it….. or should I just keep the S7?

I won’t go over the specs of the respective devices because there are a ton of articles and videos detailing them both. I’ll just be talking about my experience with both of them.

I was quite happy with my s7 plus as a media consumption device. I also own the keyboard cover and while I don’t really use it THAT much. It is an accessory that I’d recommend if you can afford it. In addition to offering protection for the screen, it is quite useful for the DEX features if you want to have that laptop experience. The screen is great, but the aspect ratio is a bit weird. I also own the Z-fold 3 and even though the screen is much smaller, the experience in having a more square device seems better than having a rectangular one. It feels like it is made from premium products, but I don’t really like how it feels while holding it in my hands. There’s something about the edges that don’t feel quite right against my skin. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like cold and sharp. Not like it would cut my fingers, it just feels weird to me. I also thought this device was a bit heavy and I wouldn’t want to hold it for a long period of time. I had the o.g. s6 for a while and it’s weight was much more manageable. This isn’t a deal breaker as I can usually just prop it up somewhere near me. Gaming on the the device though is barely manageable. I’ve been playing Genshin Impact a lot lately and it looks and runs pretty good. I have decently large hands, but it’s still a bit uncomfortable to reach all of the on screen buttons. I can do it, but gaming on my smaller z fold 3 is a lot more comfortable. Overall though, I am pretty happy with this device. Samsung’s One UI makes it an amazing multitasking experience. The 120hz refresh rate isn’t something that I really notice with my eyes, but hey, more is better ….right? The sound is pretty decent and I would still say that this is a great tablet for note taking, gaming, and media consumption.

ON the other HAND

The Tab S8 ultra really is a beast of a device. It guess you could call it beauty and the beast as it as also a beautiful device to look at. This thing is huge. The display is absolutely gorgeous. The aspect ratio seems a bit better to me than the s7+ because even though it’s still rectangular, it’s not quite as rectangular.

This thing is also heavy. After carrying it around for a while, then picking back up the s7+, the s7 no longer feels as heavy somehow. In fact, it was a bit in awe at how much lighter it felt. Before, the weight of the s7, though not too heavy, was noticeable. But after wielding the s8 around, the s7 feels….right. Though heavier, it doesn’t have that same cold/sharp feeling that the s7 plus has in my hand. Still though, given the weight difference, I’d much rather carry around the s7+. I can carry the s8 ultra around, but it’s not something I’d want to hold in my hands for a long period of time. It’s just too heavy and too big. If laying in the bed, i’d just use the stand to prop it up. It’s definitely not a device that you’d want to use to read an ebook or something. It’s possible, but again, just too big and too heavy.

One UI is a great experience to me and works well on both tablets. Both can also be used as a second screen and it’s a beautiful thing when using my z fold 3 to connect to DEX wirelessly. The included s-pen works flawlessly and is great for taking notes or swiping through the user interface.

You’re going to want to lay it down flat on the table as opposed to holding it like a notebook because of the weight. While it is possible to hold it like a notebook, I could see it getting uncomfortable after holding it like that for an extended period of time.

Overall, I really like both tablets. For regular students, (not graphic design/animation)….I’d have to recommend the s7+ though. For most people, the ultra just going to be a bit too big and heavy to carry around. The s7+ is large enough to have a really good surface area to take notes. It’s lighter and has all of the functions and features of it’s bigger brother. Despite the minor issue i have with the aspect ratio on a few applications, it’s still a gorgeous display and the snapdragon 888 processor should be more than adequate for at least another 3 years. I think Samsung will be supporting it with updates for at least the next 2. It’s definetely worth the money.

Is the s8 ultra worth upgrading to?….for me, yes and no. From a financial perspective, it’s probably better for me to save the $500….but i really do like the device.

Though heavier and bigger, I’m usually not one handing it for long anyway. I rarely held the s7+ like that, and I probably will be holding this one less because of the weight and size. It’s like I want to hold it more because it looks really cool, but my subconscious brain is like, yeah, put this thing down somewhere and look it at from a distance. I really was amazed at how much easier and lighter the s7+ felt after switching back to it.

In my situation though, I own a z fold 3 that I use in tablet mode while at home anyway. The s7+ in this case became a bit redundant.

The s8 ultra sort of reminds me of a “all in one” computer that’s more portable. Again, i can’t emphasize how great this screen looks. It’s a very sexy looking device. It’s super thin and I’m amazed that something so thin would work so well. It’s a very nice show piece that looks good sitting on a countertop, desk, or dresser. I could connect a bluetooth or stadia controller to it and rock out with streaming game services. I connect wireless DEX to it and can control the screen with my z fold 3. It’s really like having portable monitor/lcd in a way that the s7+ isn’t. Though the s7+ can be used in the exact same way, the s8 ultra just looks way better in my opinion.

The responsible thing for me to do would be just hold on the s7+…..but i don’t always make the most financially responsible decisions when it comes to tech sometimes. It’s not worth it on a practical level, but did I mention how beautiful / sleek and sexy this thing is? I think I’m going to keep it and trade the s7+ in. If I didn’t have the z fold 3 already or had traded it in for the s22 ultra, I probably would have kept the s7+ for the pure tablet experience. But since I already have a tablet screen in my phone, I think that having a portable all in one esque device better satisfies my tech needs.

I hear a lot of women say that “ambition” is an attractive characteristic in a man. I often find myself secretly rolling my eyes at this and it is somewhat a turn off. Partially because I wouldn’t exactly describe myself as ambitious so it automatically removes me from a possible candidate to date. I’m actually ok with that because I really only like who likes me, so it’s not a problem.

My biggest issue is that it seems like another hive minded buzz word. One gripe I have about many modern women (well actually people in general) is that they seem to lack self reflection and tend to go with whatever the ‘hive’ deems cool at the time. It’s like they aren’t really considering what they’re saying.

What is ambition anyway? A basic google search is that it is a strong desire to achieve something. But this something is going to be different for different people. For example, a boxer may want to be a world champ. A gamer may want to get a high score in a video game. A lawyer may want to be a judge. A monk may be looking to achieve enlightenment. A crackhead is looking to score some crack.

It may sound like nitpicking, but all of the above examples are examples of ambition. Only one or possibly two are what they actually mean when they say they want a guy who is “ambitious”. Let’s just keep it real. What they mean is that they want a guy who desires and is trying to obtain more money.

I’m sure that many of them would gladly take a lottery winner or an ex-nfl star who has millions of dollars over a guy who’s ambitions lead him to become say… teacher of the year in a high school. So to me, using that term is disingenuous at best most of the time.

Don’t get me wrong, if one’s true ambitions do lead to fame, fortune, riches, and so forth….I have nothing but respect.

It just seems to me that when women say that they want an ‘ambitious’ guy, it’s just a less rude way of saying that they want a rich/wealthy guy. Or a guy who’s ambitions will probably lead to wealth and riches. That’s fine, people want what they want and I’m not the desire police. I just don’t like when people are disingenuous about it. It leads me to believe that they are both dishonest and materialistic.

I can’t but help wonder if I don’t like materialistic women because I’m not wealthy and so they probably wouldn’t like me. Given my “I like who likes me” complex, this could be a possibility.

But i also think that they’d really only like me because I had the money. If I were to lose it, then they’d have no problems with telling me to get lost. On a side note, if I were to ever get a windfall of money, or if I developed a passion that ended up making me rich, I’d probably screw these women, but I wouldn’t wife any of them. I would be running thru them like kleenex during allergy season. So I don’t really blame men who have it and do this. TBH, I don’t see a problem with “high value men” having their way with these women….especially if she came along after he got his wealth.

Finding a woman who isn’t either outright materialistic or deceptive about it is like finding a needle in a haystack. I’m not advocating that people be broke and poor. But it does seem that most women and a lot of men seem to believe that we should always be looking to “level up” and that we should always be “chasing the bag.” Many believe that we should always be striving to live luxury lifestyles full of foreign trips, designer clothes, and expensive cars. They call it “better”.

I really don’t know how, with our limited time on this earth….that this is a better way. Passion is great and all….Ambition is cool too….but hustling for the sake of hustling seems to be a trap as one could easily never find contentment in life. To be honest, that’s fine. If that’s how you want to spend ‘your’ time….I really have no qualms about it. I just hate how those people tend to look down on others who are content with their lives as is. The term lazy and underacheivers get thrown around a lot. Perhaps from a subjective standpoint, this is arguably true. But if the goal is happiness and one is already basically content, then I see no need to hustle and grind for material possessions that you can’t take with you to the grave anyway.

If you aren’t content where you are, then you can ask yourself why. Is it because there is so much societal pressure to conform to this hustle culture….or do you truly want more. I’m thinking that it’s the former for the majority of people as I’m convinced that if the feeling is truly organic and comes from within, then they’d already be acting upon it, finding a way to make it. I think that most people just talk a good game.

We live in unprecedented times. The average middle class American has access to clean running temperature controlled water 24 hour a day. Our toilet water is cleaner than drinking water in many places in the world. We can eat damned near any food we desire….in and out of season….local or domestic. Hunting and farming has been replaced with taking a trip to the local farmer’s market or grocery store. We have central heat and air. We have access to the freaking internet 24×7 in the palms of our hands. We have access to transportation, electricity, relative peace. Relatively good health. Access to pain medication. Work for most isn’t some back breaking endeavor in manual effort.

I mean seriously, I’d rather be a middle class person today than a king back some 200 years ago.

Yet with all of this, instead of counting our blessings, many of us are pressed about some designer sunglasses, luxury cars, and material things to impress people that couldn’t give a rat’s ass about us. I think that if you’re healthy, middle class, debt free, and can still have enough money left over to buy a few toys here and there and save and invest in retirement, you’re wealthier than at least 98% of the population in the history of the world. Not a bad hand to be dealt if you ask me.

I’ve read in history how bad a lot of people had it. I see on television and the web how a lot of people live in other places. This isn’t a bad deal relatively speaking. While life isn’t exactly perfect…..i do believe that we do have a lot to be thankful for and honestly. I feel blessed.