"Quite simply, I am repellent. I repel women. Oh sure, some SAY I'm not but they're all married, not interested, or I have no romantic attraction to them whatsoever. My track record sucks. They all want to be my "sister." 35 years of the same old bullshit can leave a guy shell shocked. Every time I let my feelings known I am shot to hell and embarrass myself. So, not gonna happen any time soon."

This was a friends response to why he hasn't found someone yet. Pretty much sums up how I feel on the topic too. Men are fragile. They won't admit it. Not as fragile as women but self esteem can get bruised quickly. No matter what others say, when you hear "you're like a brother", "I don't want to lose our friendship", "I don't want a relationship right now" and even crap like "I am not good enough for you" time and time again, regardless of what kind of girl they are, you start to believe that the reality is it's you. Deep down there is something wrong with you that no one will ever accept. I find it hard to believe that every girl I have been interested in is so superficial they can't get past my looks. And more and more people now a days want to play the cat and mouse type game when it comes to possible romantic relationships. I don't have time for that. Life is too short and too much can go wrong or has gone wrong for me to play the game. To futilely chase after someone not knowing what they are thinking or if they are just fucking with me. I have come to a decision in my life that it looks like it is just far easier and will hurt less to just stay single. To go about my life and only share it with my closets friends and family. Hell I am 30 and have made it this far without someone beside me. What's another 30, 40 or 50 years?