It took him two weeks to hop back on the apps and start “dating” again, distracting him from his mission but that is a part of his journey. He had to gain confidence in himself that can’t be taught from another person. He could never trust that I wasn’t talking to other guys.

For me, dating is intentional. And you shouldn’t be saying you are looking for a long term partnership with someone on a dating app when you are looking for something casual. It would take a lot of awareness on someone's part to know that you can’t handle anything more than casual while you are going through an intense life transition. He may have wanted something serious but was not capable of it at that time. Do I think he was serious about me while being an idiot trying to catch validation with someone else? Sure. But his journey will take as long as it will take f ...