Hey thanks for saying that. I was thinking of maybe joining a therapeutic riding volunteering place cause I noticed that there tends to be a lot more girls there and I might be wrong could be a wrong assumption but hey at least I’ll be able to ride on a horse on to the sunset lol.

I guess my type of woman (well looks like wise white American) is someone who’s just kind and caring also who’s more extroverted tbh. I mean I do like someone who takes care of themselves (I’m trying to do that just ya know struggling but not like I gave up on it) and someone who wants a long term relationship that will lead to marriage.

Basically my type is someone who shares the same western ideals as I do (I grew up Muslim but not anymore and I’m brown as well) and someone who’s liberal I guess if that helps.

If that's the case then that makes sense. Its just that if I stop going out there, I said in my other comment that no one will come to be or I'm just you know alone but not in a good way. There is nothing wrong with being alone but for me its that my family is really forcing me to get married to someone they like and things I value are very different from what the girl my family wants me to marry. I know its fucked up but here we are.

For me its the latter cause its hard to find like-minded people and to keep it going. Life is already hard for a lotta people so friendships suffer so does dating as well cause that's the easiest as people would let it take the backseat.

Okay, well here's the alternative. This is something I don't expect anyone to understand but its okay. My parents and my family in general are very very conservative (basically I grew up Muslim) and I am not a practicing Muslim anymore because my values don't align with each other. So its just me now even though I do talk to my family and everything where we keep everything cordial. Its just that they're forcing me to marry someone of my ethnicity with someone who THEY like not me. I know the obvious for some is to stand your ground to which I do and every time they talk about my marriage I do stand my ground. It sounds as a man like yay I don't have make so much effort just to get married or anything but for me I care about my values more. I am very left-wing and liberal also pretty much westernized as I felt at home more in the US that I ever did in my life tbh.

This is why I am just so stressed about marriage and dating too. Cause if I did find someone, at least my family could back off and they'll realize that I have my own life here and there's nothing they can do so they'll accept it. But right now they know that I am trying to date an American woman who I get along much more its just me idk and they're trying to stop that by getting me married to someone they so I can conform to their liking and to the culture I grew up hating so much because I felt like an outsider tbh.

Thanks man, I appreciate you saying that.

Yeah I am being way too hard on myself as my other comment replies show me that. I'm happy to hear that you've made it (gives me some hope lol) and I agree that the journey of self-improvement is thankless. I do have a good of friends that I can rely on its just making this post here can help me hear this or even read this when I'm feeling down. I know that having a partner isn't something necessary to make me happy. I guess for me its just I am very prone to making comparisons to everyone else and how I am an immigrant to the US has skewed my perception even more so it just you know hits harder I guess when I am unconsciously making comparisons.

Yeah, I see what you're saying. Its just that the reason why I've said as a man is because both men and women live their lives so differently like in terms of dating (I am generalizing here and I could be wrong), women tend to get approached often by men so they sometimes don't have to do much except for filtering out the men who just want sex versus the one who they want long-term wise. For men, they tend to have to make the first approach often in order for them to get noticed.

I'm saying this generally and yeah its just this is also just me I do think of women as friends first cause I want to also so see how whether or not our values align together or not. Women are people too I realize that, its just hard when a lot of other men are doing the same thing and its hard not to feel behind in this rat race lol even tho it isn't but sometimes it feels like it when there is someone you're interested in and they like someone else or that they're not looking to date or anything. Sorry for the rambling its just I'm frustrated with it and if I feel like I stop looking for someone, no one is going to come to me if that makes sense and I'm just you know alone with my thoughts.

Your son is so cute and your cat as well! This is something I've always wanted, a family of my own even with how difficult it can be raise a child and everything. Idk there is something fulfilling for me when it comes to family but I really appreciate you sharing that and your advice as well

No you're fine, I appreciate what you're trying to tell me and I definitely will try to follow what you've said. I'm curious though as how would you try to watch your diet? I have a really really bad food control cause food has been my stress reliever and how can one be consistent in having smaller portions? Like for me, I tried to really eat a smaller portion but its just that I end eating bigger portions because idk I feel depressed and I'd just be thinking of the food more than the goals I'd like to achieve if that makes sense

Thank you for giving a clear and concise answer! We appreciate your hard work you've put into Lemmy!

Reddit unironically gives me 1984 as it’s about to get worse from here on out.