I took a complete break from dating and relationships for the last 10 years, no dates, no kissing, no romantic involvement at all. It wasn’t easy, but recently I’ve started to feel ready to date again.
What’s confusing me is that now I seem to value male attention too much. Even a small interaction with a man I find slightly attractive can stay on my mind for ages afterwards. It’s making me worry that when I do start dating, I’ll end up attaching myself to the first man who shows me interest, simply because I’ve gone so long without it.
Someone told me I need to “de-centre men” from my life, but I honestly thought that’s exactly what I’d been doing all these years. Instead, it almost feels like the opposite has happened like male attention now feels more significant because it’s been absent for so long.
Has anyone else experienced this after being single for a very long time?