Advice Column

Hi, I’m a 26-year-old male in a long-distance relationship with a 26-year-old woman. I tend to overthink about things she does. I really love her, but sometimes my overthinking leads to small issues.

For example, yesterday she had a function to attend, a wedding event for her friend, and she went with some of her friends. Because I’m protective of her, I asked how she was going and how she was coming, and she tells me everything.

She told me she would be coming with a bunch of her friends and told me the exact time she left the event. I know how much time it takes her to reach home from that event, approximately 15 minutes, but it took almost 45 minutes. She was online sometimes and didn’t even message me.

[Read more…] about “Am I being too clingy??”

My friend gets jealous of me very easily. I feel like I have to walk on eggshells around her every time I see her.

When she got angry, she would give others the silent treatment for however long she felt like it. It could be days, weeks, months or even years. She and I were talking about music. She got angry and jealous that I mentioned I have 2 electric guitars. I did not know that was going to be such a sensitive topic for her. She stopped talking to me for a year after that. She did not explain why she went silent.

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I’m 39 and I’ve never been in a relationship or been physically intimate with anyone. Not once.

I live in a major U.S. city and work as a senior engineer for a well-known tech company. On paper, my life looks solid. I make good money and have built a strong career. I go to a monthly board game meetup and volunteer at neighborhood cleanups. I try to be social. I ask people about their lives, suggest grabbing food after events, and make an effort to stay connected.

I work out most weekdays. I take care of myself. Good hygiene, a simple skincare routine, regular haircuts, clean clothes. I’m 5’9”, about 145 pounds, and in good shape. I’ve been on multiple dating apps for years and barely get any matches.

[Read more…] about “I’m 39 and scared I will never get married and have kids”

I’ve always laughed off the term “work spouse,” but today something shifted. My coworker Laura made a joke that only we would get, and my first instinct wasn’t to tell my spouse—it was to keep it as our thing.

I realized I’ve been sharing more of my daily emotional highs and lows with someone at a desk than with the person I share a bed with. My spouse hasn’t done anything wrong, but I’ve been emotionally lazy. I’m shutting it down starting tomorrow.

Has anyone else caught themselves sliding into an emotional affair without realizing it? How did you fix the distance at home?

[Read more…] about “I realized today that I am a work-husband with a coworker and I feel sick about it”

Me (27m) and my girlfriend (25f) been together for about 10 months. Lately I’ve started noticing she’s really weird about her phone. Keeps it face down all the time, turns off notifications when I’m around, and takes it with her even if she’s just stepping out for a minute.

She used to be more open, like showing me memes or stuff from her chats, but now it’s like the phone is some top secret device. I’m not the kind of guy who snoops, and I haven’t gone through it, but I can’t lie – it’s starting to bother me.

I asked her if something’s up, she just said “I like my privacy”. That’s all. No explanation.

Is this a red flag? I wanna trust her, but it’s hard not to feel like she’s hiding something. Anyone been through this?

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My wife and I have been together for about a decade and we have three young kids together. For most of our relationship she was never someone who put a lot of effort into her appearance. She was always naturally beautiful, but she did not really dress up or focus much on how she looked.

A couple of years ago she went through a phase where she felt like she did not have an identity outside of being a mom. Since then she has started traveling more, joining social groups, dressing up, and wearing makeup.

[Read more…] about “Is it wrong for me to not compliment my wife so that she won’t become vain?”

I have been married to my wife for four years. In the beginning everything felt perfect. I wanted to give her everything she never had growing up. She came from a financially unstable family and had never experienced things like travel, nice clothes, or good restaurants. I was excited to provide that life for her and to protect her.

She loved me deeply and unconditionally. She worked eight hours a day like I did, but still cooked, cleaned, and did my laundry. She even learned new recipes just to make me happy. She seemed genuinely happy caring for me.

Things changed when I started gambling. I lost everything. My savings, her savings, my salary, and I even stole from her. She still did not leave.

[Read more…] about “I fucked up big time”