And truth be told, the longer the string of exes you leave behind, the greater your chances are of deal with unnecessary drama that you would really rather not put up with. I don't speak from experience, however, I've seen friends of mine deal with this before with any number of their exes.
This is one of the main reasons why I've never had any interest in the dating scene. I'm perfectly content being single, and it doesn't really bother me if I never marry or have a soul mate (I consider myself a married to my work/art kind of guy anyway). At the same time, I'm not completely dismissive of the idea that maybe there could be somebody out there for me, but I would just as soon that somebody and I come into each other's lives, and that be the only relationship we ever have to concern ourselves with . . . and I know that's a cock-eyed, unrealistic notion, so I don't really look for it to happen that if - if it even happens at all.
I was in love with a lady friend of mine for years (as many of you older members may remember), and when I finally confessed my feelings to her, she gently rejected me because she didn't return my feelings. At the time, I wasn't completely surprised, but it still cut like a knife, and I did end up crying myself to sleep that night. But, as they say, hindsight is 20/20: these past four years have brought out her true colors, and I see a totally different person than whom I had fallen in love with previously, so now, I'm actually glad nothing progressed between us.
I will confess, there has been another lady friend of mine whom I've been fancying for a couple of years, but this time around, I'm handling the situation a lot better (I think mainly because I went through this once before, so I know how to get a grip on myself), but I also doubt anything would progress between us - mainly because she's bisexual, and seems to have a stronger preference for women than men.
But again, in the end, I'm not at all fearful of ending up alone for the rest of my life. Besides, even the Bible says marriage meant for everybody, and if some of us are meant to be single, it's better they remain single.