Stop Leading Him or Her On

The relationship game is a lot like Monopoly. There are various players with varying motivations, strategies, and ethics. Some players enjoy the challenge, some don't experience any joy at all unless they win. The trouble is that where relationships are concerned, there are degrees and levels of winners and losers. There is also much more to gain and a greater potential to lose. Relationships in the real world are far more complex than a game, yet many players employ the same approach to both.

Ultimately, game-playing is at the heart of the matter when any person is guilty of leading on another person. In case the concept is new, this could be a woman who plays cat and mouse or this could be a man who makes 'bootie-calls' to a woman he knows in interested in more (or vice versa). Essentially, one is leading on another anytime one gives the other reason to believe they could have a relationship but has little or no intention of making it happen or allowing it to happen. Note to all men and women who are leading another person on: STOP.

Any person who is taking this type of action is getting some need met by doing so, so it is unlikely that such a person would be swayed by the reasons that will be outlined. However, any person who cares at all for the general well-being of another human being might.

First, leading people on does no favors. No one's life has ever been improved by being held at the brink of love. Everyone person wants to fall, dive, or somersault off of that cliff. To love and be loved is to feel a sort of fulfillment that being toyed with can't replace. Thus, the one being led should be allowed the opportunity to find a person who is just as interested in a real relationship. If you have to think about whether you could really be with that person, you probably can't. So set that other person free.