You’re very welcome! I think the fact that you’re able to reflect so deeply on this is a really good thing.

Forgive my assumptions, but from what it looks like from the outside, you’ve come a long way down a pretty bumpy road. Lots of people get swept up in these feelings and regret it, but your self awareness is admirable. Sending good vibes and best wishes, whatever path you take

I think you nailed it on the head yourself - that all the things you’re feeling are for a “squandered past, not a realistic future.”

I’ve struggled with this situation as well, and those feelings never last. The other person feels like an “escape” from your current partner because they are a mystery. I love my SO, but I know all the dirty minutiae of living together for 7 years. He tends to fart loudly in the toilet when he thinks I’m asleep still, and sometimes lets his toenails get too long.

The little details like that don’t give your imagination much leeway, where a prospective life with another person is full of possibilities.

Don’t let this new person be an excuse to throw away your current relationship. It throwing such a huge wrench in your system is indicative of something being amiss in your marriage. Maybe there’s some distance, or needs not being met.

Crushes on other people happen in long term relationships, and are normal, but the response in a healthy relationship is being able to recognize that the lovesickness is fleeting. The bond with the new person isn’t fate: it’s just filling a hole at the moment.

Edit: a good test is this - if the other person had never come back into your life, would you still be happier if you left your wife? If the answer is yes, then perhaps you need to rethink your relationship, but do it alone. Don’t jump to a new one right away without sorting out the baggage from the previous one

Now that I think about it, maybe they always have been, sort of? The earliest memes I remember are the rage comics

Though, I feel like “meme” = funny relatable thing nowadays.

I swear, kids are the cruelest at that age. I ate lunch in the bathroom stall a few times in my first week of middle school because it was better than being in the cafeteria

I’m hopeful that this turns out well, and have less impact on the environment like they mentioned.

I wish they delved more into what the differences were between the “pharmaceutical grade” and non-pharmaceutical grade versions of meat.

Either way, I worry that it’ll probably be a bit more expensive, just like the current meat alternatives.

At the moment, Beyond meat is the best meat substitute I’ve eaten so far.

Edit: added a sentence

Yeah, I know what you mean. Its a hard habit to break out of though - I always feel like I should exhaust other resources before asking questions.

When I ask things without looking it up first, it feels like I’m not doing my best to solve my own problem before “bothering” others

It might be an age thing - I’m 32, game as a hobby, and work in software. 80% of my coworkers play games to some extent, and most are in their twenties to mid thirties.

But when I used to work in healthcare, I think only a few of my coworkers shared the hobby.

Generally, I think the younger the generation is, the more acceptable and “normal” gaming is. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s definitely more common.