When you meet that right guy, it can feel like everything is falling into place. You start to envision your home together, starting a family, and a whole future ahead of you two. But that fantasy is shattered when a man just walks out on a relationship, leaving you wondering what you could have done differently to keep it intact. If you’re looking for some closure, here are the most common reasons why men leave their partners.
1. He feels like his flaws are judged rather than accepted, as they should be by a partner. You can never fix someone in a relationship, or hope that they’ll change unrealistically. You can only accept them as they are, and if that’s not enough, no wonder they kick you to the curb!
2. He feels intimidated by her success. Sometimes, men feel as though they need to be in power to have the upper hand in a relationship. If their woman is the breadwinner or receives a lot of public attention, men sometimes can’t handle that and feel as though their needs aren’t being tended to enough.
3. If he suspects dishonesty and you can’t communicate over it. Fib or obscene lie, hiding the truth can create distance in a relationship – a tiny lie about one afternoon can be connected to a bigger lie about someone’s past, for instance.
4. That connection you once had is gone, which usually means that the sex is gone. And that spark of chemistry is necessary in keeping your relationship alive.
5. On a related note, when a partner becomes a roommate, a man loses interest. If you’re ships in the night that have stopped romantic interactions, then you’re basically just splitting the rent and living with a roomie.
6. He feels imprisoned. You guys do everything together, and your independence has waned. This might be fine for the woman, who considers this to be “settling down” but keeping your own friends and social life is also vital to a healthy relationship.
7. Openness is vital, but talking about your past relationships too much will break your current one. Nobody likes to be compared – would you like it if he blabbed about his ex girlfriends all the time? The past can’t compete with the future, so stop comparing it! Male egos are sensitive!
8. Also connected to openness: jealousy (valid or unwarranted) is toxic enough to break a relationship and leave such paranoia that nothing can be salvaged. If you see your man staring down every girl when he’s actually doing no such thing, it will waver the trust between you, which is fundamental in a relationship.
9. When he realizes he needs to put the kids first, or his partner is refusing counselling. A man won’t let you mess with his children, and if he suggests counselling, that’s at least an attempt at a white flag or fixing things, and rejecting that is rejecting the relationship.
10. This is a harsh one, but if you’ve gained weight and your appearance has changed, his desire to commit might too. It’s a cliché that men leave their women for a newer, younger model, but men can be clichés and sometimes never learn, so what do you expect?
11. You don’t believe in or support his dreams. They say behind every great man is a great woman, right? Well, if that woman is laughing at her man’s life ambitions, it’s a bummer. Everyone wants and deserves a supportive partner that believes in them, and when that goes away, so does the will to stay.
