I believe that there may be a bit of a "trap" that people new to TRP may fall into, especially if they are dating or are in a serious LTR/marriage. Once they read up on the sidebar and the horror stories and AWALT they have the potential to go nuclear on their significant others even if it was unwarranted. They blame their lover for the void they had been feeling from within even though they themselves should be the one to find meaning in their own life.

There was a point in time when I was with my ex and I became so emotionally distant that she was concerned. I didn't understand why exactly I had been feeling this way and that was when I stumbled on TRP and this sub. I read "No More Mister Nice Guy" and "The Rational Male" and although very good reads, I still felt as if something was missing. That was when I realized that I had became too comfortable.

I had an LTR, a stable job and income, we lived together and she worked two jobs to carry more than her fair share. I was satisfied, but that was also why I wasn't. A wise man once said that comfort was the death of ambition and we as men are told that the kind of life I mentioned SHOULD be something that we're satisfied with...

Until we're not. So we feel guilty and look for external factors to blame for our unhappiness and dissatisfaction with our lives but what one must understand is that the dream we were sold won't make us happy.

It is absolutely imperative that women sell men on this dream because there is nothing that scares a woman more than growing old and dying alone with no husband and no kids.

We men don't need that, we are perfectly content with giving ourselves a mission and doing whatever we can do in our power to accomplish it. Unfortunately if you are directionless then you will always feel unhappy no matter who you're with or how much success you have.

If you truly want a more stable LTR, and a more stable life, then you need a mission that you work towards every single day.

You should be so focused on accomplishing your mission that even if your LTR, friends and family were to drop out of your life that you'd ultimately move on and recover because NOTHING is going to get in your way.