Hello

Okay, so a good friend of mine is having some problems with his girlfriend. They are both around 23 and 25 years old and have been together for more than 4 years.

Now here is the problem. She is beginning to feel that she has missed out on the "dating other guys" part of her life and as a result she feels like she wants to experience that by dating other people. All her female friends, as well as her parents, are trying to convince her to take this route. She is confused and according to her she wants to do this in order to see what's out there and in the end she is hoping that this experience will help solidify her current relationship in the future (i.e. make her realize that her current boyfriend is truly "the one"). Another problem is that she will not go ahead with this idea unless her boyfriend also wants this.

The truth is that my buddy is terrified at this idea and is not sure what he should do. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure what to tell him. Any ideas?

Honestly, this to me seems to be a bad situation for your friend. If she is even considering this, then there is some doubt in her mind about the relationship and that is not a good thing. Now that this has even been an idea to concsider, it will be difficult for him to see the stability in the relationship, or at least it would be for me. Sure, she may realize that he is the one she really wants in the end, but if that is what she is hoping for, then why put what she has at risk. This will be HE! For him, in my opinion. Obviously, this is going to have to be a break up, but the worst part is that she basically wants to have her cake and eat it too. Doesn't seem fair to him in any way or even logical to me. Either way though, the outlook isn't good for your friend, considering she has already thought about wanting to do this, along with everyone that is surrounding her.

This is absolutely selfish on her part, and her expecting him (your friend) to just wait is not fair. He needs to move on and let her go. You shouldn't need to date other guys to validate your so called love for another. That is garbage. Your friend deserves better, so tell him to move on and start worrying about himself, as his current girlfriend seems only concerned about her feelings. This is going to be way too hurtful for him and is absurd to ask anyone to deal with. Time for him to cut all ties with her and make himself better... time for him to learn to live his life without her.

This is absolutely selfish on her part, and her expecting him (your friend) to just wait is not fair. He needs to move on and let her go. You shouldn't need to date other guys to validate your so called love for another. That is garbage. Your friend deserves better, so tell him to move on and start worrying about himself, as his current girlfriend seems only concerned about her feelings. This is going to be way too hurtful for him and is absurd to ask anyone to deal with. Time for him to cut all ties with her and make himself better...time for him to learn to live his life without her.

Well said.