How to walk away....

There's being a total arrogant jerk and thinking the world revolves around you....
There's being completely and utterly self-effacing to the point of allowing people to walk all over you...
And then there's the middle ground.  Where you recognize your own worth and simply insist that others treat you accordingly.

I don't consider myself to be arrogant.  I've never heard someone call me that, either.  I like to think I'm pretty humble, and I've definitely been known to let people take advantage of my kindness.  And I definitely have put up with a LOT of stuff from men over the years.  Lying, mind games, etc.  I've learned that one of men's favorite games is this:

They try to date or see more than one woman at a time (not just dinner once a month, but legitimately dating often, calling, texting, etc.).  They convince both women this is normal and if she thinks otherwise she's "petty", "jealous", or has "trust issues", even going so far as to use the word "psycho".  If one woman is unaware of the other and finds out and confronts the man, he typically acts like she is making a mountain out of a mole-hill and she needs to "chill".  You see where this goes. [Meanwhile, typically, if the same man finds out she has been on a date with another guy, he responds with either anger or a cold rejection of her, sometimes using words like "slut".]

OK, guys, here we go...a few guidelines for you to avoid this "drama" in your lives:
1) If you aren't looking for a relationship, check out a hook-up site, craigslist, or a bar.  If that's all you're after, stop putting so much fake effort into leading women on and just come clean with yourself and go after what you want. Then you'll stop hurting the women who are seriously looking for a relationship.
2) Building on that, be honest.  Be honest with yourself about what you want (hook-up vs. relationship), be honest with them women about it, and be honest if you get involved with another woman.  Trust me when I say that a woman would rather hear it from the man's mouth directly than from the gossip mill, a misfired email or text, or from the other woman.
3) .............oh wait, there is no 3.....there's really only TWO FRIGGIN GUIDELINES to NOT being a jerk, and both of them hinge on HONESTY.  Be honest with yourself and honest with others.

Oh, and don't ever underestimate a woman's intuition.  We know, man....we know.  And you know we know.  So stop with all the stupid lies and silly stories.

Well, I guess there would be one more guideline, but it goes for both: it's OK to walk away.  It's definitely more than fine to decide that you have had your fill of it or that you just aren't interested anymore or whatever the reason.  I'm not talking about walking away from a serious, long-term committed relationship or marriage, but a relatively new dating situation. It's cool.  Cut your losses and move on.

Anyway, I won't go into details because it's honestly not that big a deal to me (it was kind of a shock this morning but it passed quickly, which really is telling about how important [not much] it was anyway), but I'm happy to say it didn't ruin my day.  I hung out with my friend Kia, which rarely happens outside of work due to our conflicting schedules, and we got to go downtown and hang out (and she was forced to endure a vegan dinner at my house), so my day turned pretty awesome.

Tomorrow's another day and another adventure....I hope you'll share it with me.  Just knowing people are reading these silly thoughts of mine gives me hope every day. Thank you.