Drago69 said:
As much as I want... tickling, I don't want what an escort service could offer. I'm sure that's for sex only, and I can't say i am really interested in that at all. Plus I don't have the money to spend on that. =p Looking more for love anyway.
Wow! I respect you for that last post, and I wanted to let you know. A lot of guys have no problem with buying sex, and they make fun of people who don't. That's their intolerance; it in no way reflects badly on you. Keep the notion of wanting it to be for love alive and don't ever lose heart.
I have posted this before, but I will say it again. A friend of mine is a high-priced escort, and she goes with wealthy older men only--the same two or three every week. In addition, I know an older guy who was a male sex worker in the 60s and 70s. They enjoy sex only when they choose their partner, not when someone else is paying for it.
Some people can enjoy paying for sex and kinks without an emotional commitment, and that is fine. Nothing wrong with that. I, on the other hand, have to have some bond and level of comfort with the person. I don't have to be in a relationship, mind you, but I do have to know that whatever I feel is mutual.
Granted, I am a gay guy, and you may be wondering how this pertains to your heteoxexuality. I can tell you that I have heard the same thing from some (not all) of my straight guy friends. There are people who think the way you do, and there are people who do not. However you think is fine, and you should trust what your instincts tell you about which women are desirable and how you want the relationship to be.
Drago69 said:
Thanks a lot. =)
My friends all liked getting drunk and going out and being idiots, so I was never one to join them, and we didn't really have anything in common. I hope I can find a friend like you did someday. It must be great. I told one of my friends about my tickling fetish - you know it's wierd when you have to cover up tickling stuff on your computer by just saying it's normal porn to be accepted 😵; - but he seemed all curious and I told him, and he thought it was stupid and laughed at me about it, and basically joked around for about 15 minutes before he left, then we never talked about it again. Though, while we never talked about it, I almost regretted it the next day, 'cause we were walking around at lunch, and these guys were tickling a girl across the street from school, and he kept saying he was going to go tell them, and then he laughed when I got all freaked out that he was going to. =p Well, anyway, I am glad you have a great and supportive friend.
You will find not only one, but many. The volunteer option many have suggested is good. See also what I said in my last post about finding groups where people have similar interests.
You come across very well on this board, and proof of that is the number of people posting to you. I think you have more positive qualities than you think, and good people will pick up on that. False friends will not.
By the way, I am a bag of insecurities and always have been. I allowed it to stop me when I was younger, but, with occasional periods of regression aside, I do not allow my fears to stop me now. Don't think for a minute that I am writing to you as Mr. Cool. Instead, I am writing as someone who knows how the issues you mentioned feel.
In all seriousness: You don't have to answer this question, as your private business is your private business. But is there any chance that you might have clinical depression, OCD, social anxiety disorder, or some other ailment that can be treated? Many years ago I took medication and saw someone because I did not know where to turn. It was then that I discovered the medical/biological nature of my issues. I am have been off medication and out of therapy for a long time, but I am grateful that I went when I did. It made a major difference in my life, and I do volunteer work related to it. There are many sliding scale programs available for people who cannot afford to pay much, and a great deal of the information is on line.
About friends: D, my best friend, knows what a bundle of nerves I can be. Our friendship has never been about my trying to be something I am not; it is about my being who I am, faults and all. And believe me, he is not perfect, either. I roll my eyes at some of the things that come out of his mouth, but I love him all the same. We each saw the good in the other, and that overrode everything else.
I know that you are probably hyper-aware of every fault (just as I am of my own). But even I, a person who has never met you, can pick up on so much about you that is positive in your posts. You really are going to be all right, and you really do have so much to offer.
Drago69 said:
I find I am more attracted to a girls mind, and personality, more than anything. =D
...and for that reason it is going to be much easier for you to find a quality woman. Most guys don't have such maturity.
Drago69 said:
Well, they were the only friends I had. I didn't have any friends until I was like... 13 or so, then I got one, and he brought his friends along, and that's how I got more. They were around me until this year, all through school (I just graduated High School last month, finally.)
I actually told them really personal things in order to get some advice and stuff, and they actually told other people - sometimes strangers - what I had said while I was right there, I guess thinking it didn't bother me.
I know. I went through the same thing. Here's a head's up: People who need to bash others in order to feel good about themselves have very little to feel good about. Don't let wealth, physical appearance, and a circle of friends fool you. They surround themselves with people just like them, and they get just as screwed in the end. One of the guys who used to torment me as a kid married a woman who was found in bed with another guy only five months after the marriage. He sat in a bar drowning his problems, wondering aloud why he had not been man enough for her.
How do I know this? Because his so-called friends for all these years were laughing behind his back about it, and news travels. Now I see him, think about what he did to me when I was a kid, and, without saying a word, mentally tell him how I am doing well and he is pathetic.
There is a flip side to the coin, though. I don't usually admit this either, but as a teenager I joined in with a group of people my age who liked to drive in Greenwich Village and throw things at gay people. I have always passed for straight, and that was my cover during my closeted Fundamentalist days.
I tell you this so you will see that I have been both tormentor and tormented. Life does strange things to us, and we have to learn to forgive ourselves and simply be who we are. Those who make fun of you have real issues, and they would be lost if the tattered rug of friendship with fellow creeps were pulled out from under them.
Drago69 said:
I hope I can keep the weight off when I lose it and do all the things you say... thanks again.
I know that you can. Your posts show how strong you are, and someone with such strength cannot be defeated.