Ask Amy: Woman is looking for love in all the wrong places

Dear Amy: I’m a 28-year-old woman who has been trying to find love for her entire life, but no luck!

I’ve been trying online dating for the past few years, but I always get dumped or the guy tells me that he doesn’t want a relationship.

My last heartbreak was a guy four years younger, telling me he didn’t want anything serious or long-term.

I’m up against the wall!

The guys on online sites seem weird. I feel like no one decent talks to me on these sites.

I have no one asking me out offline, either, and I’m concerned because I just hate being single.

Why can everyone else find someone but not me?

— Lonely woman

Dear Lonely: I’d like to point you toward a few course corrections:

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First of all, you are not the only person in the world without a partner. Some of the personal factors that make you feel lonely now, your insecurity, desperation and habit of blaming others — will still be present after you’ve met someone. And potential matches can detect your desperation and negativity a mile away.

Flailing around on various matching sites will not yield anything different until you make some real and solid personal changes.

The trick here is to stop looking for a period of time and make a commitment to work on yourself. You should examine your childhood, your parents’ relationship, your typical dynamic in friendships and look for patterns that you can consciously disrupt and improve. Meeting with a counselor might help.

Remember that the first and most important relationship you will ever have is the one you have with yourself.

If you learn to love that person in the mirror, you’ll be less lonely, judgmental and cranky.

You should also work on forming and keeping female friendships. Friends will help you to navigate these challenging passages; they will introduce you to people, prop you up and tell you honestly when you are being a jerk.

You need to learn to live your life as if you will not find a forever-partner. Develop your professional skills and commit to finding good work.

Dive into the real world. Join organizations and find opportunities to give generously of yourself.