I've been single for over five years now, and have gradually lost interest in dating over that time period.

One thing I've noticed is that I still get this passing emotional feeling sometimes when I think about never dating again. It feels like really mild grief. The best way I can explain it is that sometimes I'll think about my favorite music, movies, trivia, etc., and how I'll likely never have a wife to share any of these things with. Like a lot of you, I know quite a bit about my hobbies, and in a perfect world, I think I'd be a fun guy for a woman to be around.

I know we can still have friends, men or women, even if we don't date, but there is something different about sharing things with a partner for life (well, one hopes for life). I guess it's leftover feelings from when I thought I would someday find a wife.

Now before anyone jumps to conclusions, I'm not changing my beliefs that I'm likely to ever find a romantic relationship that I would want. I still think that's pretty unlikely, and it's doubtful I'd want to even seriously try, with all I've learned about relationship disasters, and my own past experiences with romantic relationships.

I'm more interested in if I'll ever get fully over this. It seems ridiculous to feel even mild grief over a dream that probably was never realistic. It's like if I were sad because I'm not a billionaire.

Anyone else have these emotions? If so, were you able to get over it, and how long did it take? Is there anything you did to help you get over it? I accept on an intellectual level that I'm probably better off being single. It's just these darn emotions.

This is just really mild grief/sadness that I get once in a while, maybe a total of fifteen minutes per week. So it's not wrecking my life, or anything like that. But it is annoying.

Any advice would be appreciated. Maybe other people reading would benefit too.