Dear Ryan,

I am highly self-critical–and critical in general, though I try to keep the criticisms to myself.

A romantic relationship means being wholly vulnerable and open, which is something I’ve been unwilling to do. There’s a commitment and an intimacy that I cannot seem to maintain.

Are you afraid that the woman would sooner or later start criticizing you? The women you’ve been with in the past few years have praised you a lot….  but could it be that deep down, you don’t believe you deserve to be praised… because you feel unfit: “I am not stable enough for this world“, and you feel like you are one step from failing at work. You see yourself as a failure, and you believe it’s just a matter of time before the woman you are with discovers it. So you leave before she realizes how “inadequate” you actually are?