Dating : Dating seems almost alien

Dating : Dating seems almost alien

I’m a 25 y/o guy who has never really broken into the dating scene. Not for lack of trying. At least, I used to try. I’m a kind person, I easily make friends, big nerd, definitely eccentric, and overall likeable. I’m told I’m attractive, although I usually struggle to see it myself. Problem is, since I was routinely turned down in my dating attempts until I was 22, I have 0 clue as to how women act when they’re into me or trying to flirt. I’m told I’m a natural flirt, but I never notice when I’m doing it. At this point I can’t even bring myself to try and ask a woman out or make a move…whatever. I just lock up. Since I got rejected so much, one of my considerations I have to make before I ask someone out is, « Am I in a place where I can handle the potential depressive spiral of being turned down for the billionth time? » And even when women make the first move, for some reason it’s only women I have no interest in. I can’t even bring myself to believe someone would like me, because it just doesn’t calculate to my brain. And if course people say, « Oh you just need to be more confident » except I am ridiculously confident. I always look like I completely own the space around me. But if I even THINK about asking someone out, I completely lock up. Like, borderline panic attack. I have 0 clue as to what to do about it anymore. It’s just depressing at this point really. I’ve not been on a date in 2 years. Part of me always feels like I just missed out on that part of life, like you had to start it younger in order to be in it at all.