[Mardi]

I'm in a bit of a confused state right now - I am a female with severe commitment phobia. It's hard, because I'm fairly attractive and normal, so I end up hurting a lot of men. Since I'm what I consider a nice person, this really bothers me. Over the past two years, I've rejected about half a dozen perfectly normal guys that I found some reason or another not to be with (the most recent being this morning...what prompted me to finally look for advice). At first, I thought I was just picky, but now I know it has to be more. Especially because of something I've realized over the last year. I have the habit of falling in love with one of my best friends..it's happened twice. I don't have the desire to date them, in fact get scared if it even looks like it will head that way, but am relatively miserable at the same time when the feelings aren't returned. All of my close friends tell me that I fall for the ones that I know won't be interested, in order to avoid having to commit to anything.

I'm not scared of the physical aspects of a relationship and most of the time really like the guys that are asking me out. I even tend to be a flirt, attracting this male attention. And to top it off, I really do want a solid relationship. So am I just afraid of this or am I a masochistic, emotionally challenged freak?!? I don't know any other females that have this problem, so it makes it even harder sometimes. Does anyone have any advice, please??