My friends all being in relationships has made it hard for me to be around them.
I (25M) have a very wonderful and supportive group of friends. I’ve know all of them forever and we hang out pretty often and go on trips together. They’ve all found partners who are perfect matches for them and we all get along with each other which makes for a good dynamic. But the thing is, and it’s 100% a problem with me, being around them puts me into a such a sad state I’ve actually started canceling plans and trips because of it. To give a bit of context, I’ve always been the “chronically single” one of the group. And it’s not for lack of trying, but for whatever reason nothing has ever really worked out for me in dating. Never really been a choice for anyone at all, much less a first one. And I try not to dwell on it and tell myself that my person will come in due time. But as the years have gone on it’s been harder and harder to keep that hope. And as I’ve said all my friends have been in long term relationships and I’m very happy for them. I’m so glad they’ve found their partners that they’ll be with seemingly forever. But being surrounded by couples all the time feels like I’m looking at something I’ll never have, but want. Like last year I was on a beach trip with them and we all stayed out late one night by the water just drinking and talking. And they were all holding their partners in their arms and having a really nice time. And I was just sitting there cradling a beer bottle and trying to act like my heart wasn’t sinking. I actually ended up heading back to the house early and shed some tears on the walk. Dramatic I know but I couldn’t help it. And it put me in a weird head space for a while. And I’ve made excuses to not go on group outings and I told my best friend I wasn’t going on our yearly trip, though I didn’t say the reason (I just said I’d be busy with work) and he was really bummed out. And the others told me how much they wanted me to go and went as far as all to text me individually to say so. That made me feel bad and like I was being selfish but idk. Should I just stick it out and keep hanging out with everyone even if it puts me in a bad mental state or am I truly just being too dramatic about the whole thing?
Posted Feb 26, 2026, 3:32 AM UTC