How do you process dating moving forward when your first dating experience was so bad?

Anonymous

For so long I wanted a relationship and I finally landed in my first one 4 years ago and ultimately it ended last may. But the remnants remain of what happened more often then not it seemed like she never took it seriously. Our communication sucked because she didn’t really ever want to talk cause situations would trigger her. She had temper tantrums and meltdown’s if she didn’t get her way. We always had to do what she wanted to do I felt my interests fading into the background. She constantly seemed like she was ashamed of me she was addicted to posting on social media she would do pictures of herself, family, friends but not even 1 of us. Even in her regular phone she didn’t. When it came to gift giving around Valentine’s Day her birthday or Christmas my gifts were thoughtful like I would go off her interests and what she liked. But for me she never seemed to invest as much. The first Christmas her mom bought the gift for me then for Christmas of 2022 she went to the dollar store and got a bunch of random things I would never use and got upset when they went untouched, actually she started using them herself. I was upset not with the gifts but the symbolism that she didn’t even try cause she knew all my interests. I think the thing my brain is grappling with is she got the benefits of a relationship without investing in it.

How do you process dating moving forward when your first dating experience was so bad?
2 Opinion