Love's "Magic" Number?
Too often I've struggled with the idea that the more number of girls/boys someone has been involved with, the less emotionally attached and sincere they are because they've gone through so many potential relationships, leaving each of them behind - only to seek a new one. For the longest time I was afraid that others would pin me under such an identity; I was afraid they would judge me as the flighty girl who would move on from one guy to another in a heartbeat. I was so scared of what others would think of me that I forgot to ask myself what was actually going on.
I didn't experience the number of "things" and relationships that I did because I was disloyal or because I was insincere: I met and moved on as much as I did because I am, we are, in the process of finding ourselves in high school - a tumultuous time of our lives full of confusion and self identification. I don't know who I am or who I am going to be and yet I'm trying to fasten myself to one person in a period of growth and the journey to maturity. Relationships are hard - you have to be willing to compromise, to communicate, and to sacrifice, but I'm not ready for that. I didn't realize that until only recently when I was forced to look the dilemma in the eye and face it head on.
If I didn't love myself enough, how was I expected to love someone else? The idea of having a significant other is great: having someone to share your life story with, to share the trials and tribulations of the day, to share your stress, to talk for hours on end, to cry with, to hug, to hold, to cherish, to calm, to love. But it's hard to find someone you want to do that for the rest of your life with and that's why I don't think there's a magic number that someone will reach to deserve to be deemed as a "slut", "whore", or "player." Unless they are deliberately and intentionally playing with hearts, they are in the process of finding their true half. Then who are we to judge what number their journey should be capped at?
http://www.theprospect.net/the-responsibilities-of-having-a-significant-other-41383