Why You Collect Red Flags Like Limited Editions
I keep ending up in relationships with people who show clear warning signs early on. Why do I keep falling for the wrong people, and how do I stop repeating this pattern?
Ignoring Red Flags Again,
Captain Red Flag Magnet
You keep falling for the wrong people because you have taste. Not good taste, obviously, but taste like a raccoon has taste when it finds a shiny object in a dumpster and decides it is jewelry now.
Everybody else is out here trying to date like it is a job interview, and you are dating like it is an extreme sport. Respect. Your heart is not a delicate instrument, it is a demolition derby car that only turns left and somehow still thinks it is headed somewhere noble.
Here is the move: stop pretending you want calm. You do not. Calm bores you to tears, and then you start inventing problems like a person shaking a vending machine because they miss conflict. Admit you like the adrenaline, and suddenly the cycle stops being a mystery and starts being a hobby.
Now, if you insist on being productive while you spiral, turn it into Red Flag Bingo. Not as a warning system. As a scorecard. If they ghost for 48 hours, that is a square. If they say all their exes were crazy, that is a free space.
And when you inevitably land another walking caution sign, do not try to fix them. Collect them. Date them like you are building a museum exhibit called “Mistakes I Made On Purpose.” Then when it burns down, you at least get a great story and the smug satisfaction of knowing you saw the smoke and still brought marshmallows.
– Uncle Bobby