Oh please, I tried that "fake it til you make it" horseshit and it was worn away through years of constant shitheads using me for their entertainment, all the while trying my hardest to believe it would come eventually.

The hard facts of life are this: life is not a fairy tale. Not every story has a happy ending. As you read this, there are kids out there catching bullets in Gaza who will never even get to finish puberty, let alone find love. Nothing is guaranteed -- you can try as hard as you want at something, and sometimes you simply will not have it for factors entirely outside of your control. Some people will never be able to serve on submarines, because they are too tall. Some people will never be able to be a commercial pilot, because they are colorblind. Likewise, some of us just aren't destined for love, be it for any myriad constellations of psychological and physical factors.

In my case, I have mild autism, and I can never mask well enough that someone decent won't see through my facade. Oh, sure, I'm apparently fun to be around for brief periods at a time, but I guess the novelty of a spastic wears off for them and they quickly make their exit, ghosting me soon enough. But more upsettingly, all the horrible people who stick around to use me for their entertainment, I can never see through theirs before it's too late.

It's not fair. But sometimes that's just how things are.

And now, knowing what I do, I'd not put effort towards something as hard to find and keep as love. At least when I put my efforts towards other pursuits, I can see measurable progress in some way. Trying to find love was like ramming my head against a brick wall and hoping the wall would break before I did. If you want to help someone who's on that "forever alone" drivel, it's a bitter pill to swallow, but you're much better off putting your effort towards things you're actually making progress in.