Long time lurker, just wanted to say thanks to everyone contributing to TRP. I'm gonna do this with the relevant parts of my personal story.

TL;DR: After a few girlfriends, focused on myself and found peace, in part thanks to TRP.

Reality hit me when my GF at the time said she wanted kids. I felt I didn't, so I left her. After a few weeks, I cried and came back. This went on for 2 years until she had enough and left me. I cried some more, but I turned that around and decided to work on my own goals.

Then, I made the mistake of sticking my dick in crazy and thinking I had found a wonderful woman. That woman cracked me mentally. She insulted me, accused me of everything and in general, used me to forget about her own issues. I felt something was wrong, and I finally built up the courage to leave her. I was relieved but felt alone, and after a month I came to the conclusion: it's time I start taking responsibility for my own life.

So I did, and started reading. The Power of Now, lots of YouTube videos, and I stumbled upon TRP. It felt strange at first. I did not reject it, but I did not embrace it. It took me a while to realize that this was what I had felt for a long time, but I failed to put into words. TRP clicked for me, and it became clear that I could no longer see women in the same way as before.

I became more out-going. Most of my friends have a girlfriend, and I started talking to them a lot more. Trying to see whether their behavior aligned with TRP. Sure enough it did, pretty much always. Once you see it, you keep seeing it. And I kept wanting to see it. I did not feel the urge to try it, as I had finally started doing my own thing in life: painting, learning piano, which turned into making music, a lot of swimming. So I definitely did not have time for a girlfriend, and I didn't feel like investing my time in dating.

But then a woman crossed my path, and I really liked her. She became my girlfriend, and after a few months, we had a huge fight. I told her I could absolutely not spend more time with her, as I had a lot of hobbies. It became a power struggle, and I came out on top. This is something that would never have happened in the past, and instead of being surprised, it just felt natural. This person tried to exert influence on me and I just said no. I had never stood up for myself, and here I was doing it automatically.

That got me thinking. I knew what I wanted in life, which is pursuing my creative interests. She also knew what she wanted: a family. Though she never said that - out of fear of pushing me away - but her actions made it clear. Eventually I had to let her go, as we could not fully pursue our paths together. Basically the same situation as with my first girlfriend, but now with a lot more awareness about my own mind and thoughts.

I did not put two and two together until after some reflection. What happened to me? Thanks to The Power of Now, I learned a lot about myself. And thanks to TRP, I knew how to deal with women. I went back and thought about all the times I was with my last girlfriend, and I remember thinking: "holy shit, I never really listened. I just did what I wanted to do."

I'm not a TRP specialist by any means - I don't approach women, I don't date, I don't Tinder. I've got a pretty low sex drive - I'm more MGTOW than TRP. I got my own thing in life. And by holding that dear, by wanting to develop that, and by investing my time and money in that, women just became a lot less important in my life. And this, together with the TRP knowledge, pretty quickly lead to a change in behavior.

I just do what I want to do now. In the way I want to do it, if possible. There has been another woman in my life since my last girlfriend; she's more like a plate, I guess. We hang out, drink, fuck, eat, watch TV. But I don't commit, even though I feel she's trying to make me more invested. I don't know how, but I just deflect it all. I pretty much never listen anymore, and just do whatever. I see the TRP logic behind it, but it's not intentional. It's just a result of me focusing on myself.

I just try to have fun with everyone now. I talk to everyone, don't listen too much, and do my own thing. I have my life, they have theirs, and if sex happens, great. But I do not want a relationship. I am content, and I'm sure that, on some level, I've subconsciously absorbed TRP. I guess I've boosted my SMV, but I don't see it like that: I just like living my life according to my rules, and that has had an influence on my relationships with both men and women.

So this is basically me saying: thanks, TRP. You've put into words what I felt for a long time. I keep reading it, as I am aware of a women's power of slowly chipping away at a man, and I know that some day may come where I'll need a strong reminder. It's really a constant journey, a journey I love being on, and a journey I feel every man should know about. If done with the right intentions, I believe it's a journey on the way to becoming a better person.