I feel like this advice applies to everything from dating to friendships, to that one person you keep sending memes to.

Does this situation sound similar to you?

You send them a text or a meme. They respond sort of halfheartedly while you're sending paragraphs upon paragraphs showering them with love and attention. You send something else, they either leave you on read or you see that they're still active while they haven't answered for hours. So you send something else, thinking it will get their attention. And it just keeps cycling until something falls apart.

If this sounds familiar, this is the post for you. I personally have and am still dealing with situations like this all the time. I know how painful it is. I know how heartbreaking it is when you put in so much love and care and it just doesn't get reciprocated.

But here's the thing. The next time you're in a situation like this:

Wait for them to respond. It is up to them now, the ball is in their court, and there's nothing you can do about it.

I know how tempting it is to bombard them with messages, but trust me it's not worth it. If you're writing all these huge paragraphs or doing so much to gain their attention only to get nothing in return, then you're basically just talking to yourself by that point. Plus, by acting needy you're coming off as desperate and that's a huge turn-off. I mean, who wants to text someone who's sending a novel's worth of text messages and begging for attention? It also can really kill a conversation and make it so that there's even less to talk about.

Who knows? maybe they are genuinely preoccupied but need a little space. Or maybe they're uninterested. SO WHAT? Either way, don't respond unless the conversation is engaging and a nice back and forth, with equal effort being put in on both sides.

You need to respect yourself and not beg for anyone's attention. Remember that talking to you is a privilege, and if they can't see that, it's a mistake on their part. Instead of watching their activity and waiting for them to respond - tempting yourself to text again, just get away from your phone or computer and go do something nice for yourself. Go do something productive and be proud of yourself. Focus on you, and ONLY YOU.

And if they do eventually text back, cool. But don't take it as an absolute sign they are invested in the relationship. Be casual, and try to see if they really are invested and interested before you go all in. Be careful, and most importantly, respect yourself.

I hope this helps in some way, and to all of you out there, always remember you are free to talk to me at any time :)