When You’re Tired Of Hearing ‘I Like You, But –’
By Rania Naim
You’re tired of hearing I like you but I’m not ready.
You often feel like you’re not ready either, but are we ever really ready for anything? You’re not always ready for a promotion, or getting older or a traumatic experience but you adapt yourself, you make yourself ready because this is life and this is adulthood. You’re tired of this excuse because if someone is not even ready to get to know you, what are they really ready for?
You’re tired of hearing I like you but distance is a problem.
You probably hate distance too. You prefer to be with someone local, someone you can see and talk to face to face, someone you don’t have to constantly miss but sometimes you don’t find these people in your city or even your country, sometimes you can’t really control who your heart falls for or the connection you have with people who happen to live miles and miles away. Sometimes trying long distance and failing is better than not trying at all and creating even more distance. More apathy.
You’re tired of hearing I like you but you’re too good for me.
You’d think that it’s a good thing until it starts becoming a curse or a spell you can’t get rid of, like being good means unapproachable or worse yet, boring. Like being good means expecting perfection, expecting people to meet you where you are and expecting everyone to be on their best behavior. But they don’t know that you often feel like you’re not good enough, you often feel that people have a false image as you secretly say ‘if only they knew.’ You often feel like it’s a wrong label you’ve been given and it hasn’t been serving you well because you want someone to make you a better person, a better friend, a better lover, you don’t want anyone to make you feel like you’re too good for them as long as you’re both good for each other.
You’re tired of hearing everything that comes after but, you’re tired of knowing that even if someone is attracted to you, they still don’t want to be with you. You feel like there’s nothing more you can do, you keep accomplishing the hard part, getting someone you like to like you back but then it doesn’t mean anything if that person is not willing to try or not willing to meet you halfway.
You’re tired but you still believe that one day you will meet someone who likes you enough to ignore the buts, the maybes, the what ifs and focus on the good things you have, focus on your connection and the possibility of sharing their life with you. You’ll eventually find someone who is like you, they still have their reservations, but they’re not afraid to be with someone they like even if the circumstances are not ideal, because only then can you really determine how strong your relationship will be and how much you really ‘like’ each other.