You know you’ve outgrown games when mixed signals don’t confuse you anymore. They’re actually clear signals to you now. They mean that someone is confused or not sure about you so either way there’s nothing you can do to help.

You know you’ve outgrown games when taking too long to text back or not texting back at all is not playing hard to get. It’s immature. It’s disrespectful. It’s not a sign to keep texting, it’s a sign to back off. It’s a sign that communication is going to be hard and without communication, you don’t have a foundation and you don’t have much to work with.

You know you’ve outgrown games when you stop making lame excuses and hit yourself with the truth instead. When you stop chasing someone no matter how much you want them. When you stop being friends with someone you want more from. When you stop lying to yourself about your own feelings and try to work on getting rid of them. When you learn that sometimes it’s just not meant to be and what you think is right could be very wrong for you.

You know you’ve outgrown games when you no longer ask everyone for advice, when you stop analyzing every text and every word and every interaction. When you’re no longer filled with questions and doubts or interested in finding out how they feel about you because they would have made it clear somehow if they have feelings for you. When you stop asking for closure because their silence is a final answer.

You know you’ve outgrown games when you get turned off by inconsistency, lack of empathy and lack of effort. You get turned off by liars and players and smooth talkers. You get turned off by disingenuous people and people who take pride in how many hearts they’ve broken and how many people they’ve rejected. You get turned off by anyone who takes your kindness and honesty for granted. You get turned off by anyone who leads you on just to prove that they can get whomever they want.

You know you’ve outgrown games when you’d rather be single than with someone who doesn’t like you enough or someone who doesn’t try to spend more time with you or someone who is emotionally unavailable.

You now know that if you have to play so many games to be with someone, then you’re better off alone. You’re better off without competition, scores, winning or losing.

You know you’ve outgrown games when everyone around you tells you should play them but you firmly believe that you’ll find someone who keeps it real. You’ll find someone just like you — tired of all the games and the nonsense. Someone who doesn’t want to gamble with their heart anymore.