We all need friendships with people of the same gender and the opposite. We all need friends who are OSA, SSA, or anywhere else on the sexuality spectrum.
I know the mistakes of a parent can have incredibly long-lasting ramifications on a child's life. I still struggle to this day due to things my parents did.
As I reflect on this new friendship, I begin to overanalyze. Have I replaced one best friend with another?
And then my wife came up the stairs and saw me in my deplorable state. I was attempting to fix the bathtub plumbing. And losing.
"How could you take a bath?" The question seemed ludicrous to me. I walked a lot that day. I was tired. My legs were sore. The bath was hot. This guy is a genuinely nice guy who loves God. But he's bought into a delusional sense of masculinity based more on actions than identity.
If I strictly fly the flag of my sexuality, I view the world solely through my attractions. I see everything in life as related to homosexuality.
"Straight-baiting" has always fascinated me: the act of tricking a heterosexual individual to engage in homosexual activities.
When YOB started, I was a regular. I was posting pretty much every week. I was reliable. Dependable. Always ready to share. And then I almost left it all.
I have mentioned before that I am a father. I want to protect my daughter. With the exception of Jesus and my wife, I have never loved a person so strongly.
I absolutely refuse to fall into codependency again — especially with a coworker. With whom I share an office. It would have been a terrible situation.