Carry on

Dear Reader,

As I shared on the board with my English students the other day, dealing with men proves the most aggravating for our gender. So, I have simple advice to share with you: move on. You should respect your boyfriend’s desires because, honestly, would you like to trap him in a relationship? Though his decision may trouble you now, imagine the heartbreak if you continue to invest yourself in the relationship while your partner does not. Move on. Cut your losses. Women face this trouble every day; some face adversities much greater than boyfriend troubles. So, I recommend to you what I recommend to my students who receive low rubric scores on essays. Embrace this less-than-ideal situation as an opportunity to grow. Do not begin to spiral into the abyss of despair. Just imagine the opportunities of your new-found freedom! You could focus more on work. You could form a book club. You could even take pen to paper and write about it; the best books often stem from deep emotions like heartbreak. Eventually, you could meet someone new, someone much better for you, who will respect you and your resilience. So, do not mope and try to avoid the conflict. Do not sit around complaining, crying, wishing for your situation to change. You cannot control others’ desires, try as you might. However, you do have the power to react well and to learn from your experiences. In short, all women struggle to deal with men. So, stop complaining, you sound like my teenage students. In time, they recover from a failing essay grade and learn from it (see my AP passage rates), and so can you.      

Sincerely,

Ms. Serensky