If he picks and chooses when to answer your texts, when to hang out with you, when to acknowledge your existence, then you’re clearly not his first priority. He’s only interested in speaking to you on his terms, when he feels like it, when he decides it’s convenient for him — and that’s not the way a healthy relationship should work. He should set aside time for you, even when he’s busy. He should make sure you get an answer in a reasonable amount of time instead of ghosting you whenever the mood strikes.

You’re never going to end up in a stable relationship with a guy who goes MIA every few months. You’re never going to be able to build a strong, secure connection when you only get a certain amount of time with him before he runs away again.

You shouldn’t settle for a guy who treats you like the most beautiful person in the room fifty percent of the time and ignores you the other fifty percent of the time. You shouldn’t settle for a guy who thinks it’s too much trouble to shoot you a text letting you know where he went. You shouldn’t settle for a guy who runs off without letting you know what’s going on because he expects you to stick around, because there’s no doubt in his mind you’re still going to be there when he returns. Or maybe he’s not sure if you’ll still be there when he returns and doesn’t really care either way.

You shouldn’t settle for a guy who is unable to meet your most basic expectations. You shouldn’t settle for a guy who is unable to give you what you need.

Your person should be a constant. They should be a rock. You should never have to question their feelings for you — and you should never have to question whether they’re going to show up when you need them. You should be one-hundred percent positive that they have your back, that they aren’t going to disappoint you, that they are going to follow through on every promise they make to you.

Never settle for someone who is unpredictable when it comes to their treatment of you. Never settle for someone who struggles to stick around, even after they make a commitment. Never settle for someone who is in danger of taking off at a moment’s notice without worrying about how it might make you feel. A person like that is only going to hurt you. They’re only going to get your hopes up and make them come crashing down again.

Never settle for someone who picks and chooses when they’re going to treat you well and when they’re going to ignore your entire existence. You deserve someone who you can rely on to show up whenever you need him. Someone who is there for you at any hour of the night, any day of the week. Someone who isn’t going to drastically change the way they treat you, based on their mood that day.