Hi Saint.F, this thread caught my eye when you first posted, but I'm only getting around to replying now. I really wanted to post because your situation looks a lot like some experiences of my own, only I'm coming from the perspective of the interested man.
I'll try to keep it short, but when I was just beginning to recover from my second breakdown, a woman moved into an apartment near mine, and I would notice her occasionally while doing chores or going for walks. She was really attractive, but being skeptical of people in general and really skittish at the time, I didn't expect to talk to her. One day, when I was going to do my laundry though, I was about to walk around a corner when I heard a woman's voice coming towards me (I presumed talking on her cell phone). I didn't want to bump into her with my clothes so I stepped back against the wall. When she came around the corner, it turned out to be the woman that had recently moved in, and I accidentally spooked her... plus it turned out she was just talking to herself. I'm sure she was embarrassed, but it made me think, "Lady, you and I would probably have a lot in common."
A few weeks or so later, I was going for a walk and she happened to be going for a walk at the same time. So when we passed each other, I figured I might as well introduce myself. A few years later, I can honestly say meeting her was one of the best things that happened to me out of my entire 20s. We get along great and did talk about becoming romantic. Although the relationship never went that far or became as intimate as I hoped for (emotionally or physically), she is one of my closest friends and probably the closest I've ever come to an intimate relationship. She also helped me climb out of the hole I had fallen into more than any other person I know.
You have to do what feels right for you, but I just wanted to give a personal example of when taking a chance on someone did turn out well. If you still have occasional contact with this guy and think he might be someone you get along with, you might want to try getting to know him better, carefully and gradually of course. If your tendencies are similar to mine, you're probably pretty good at reading people too so if you start spotting red flags, you can always throw out your best excuse, then turn and burn
Saint.F wrote:Right. Unfortunately, where I live, the therapists are living in the dark ages. To give an example, I told a therapist I was a Buddhist (at the time I was), and she administered the corrective function of repeatedly quoting the Christian bible to me
They're awful here.
Wow, it sounds like you're living in the town I grew up in. I've always found nothing deflects that kind of pushiness better than quoting deeper verses (which usually contradict their interpretations) from the same scripture right back. The less hostility and more enthusiasm you show, the more it freaks people out. I still feel a little bad for the Jehovah's Witnesses I tried starting a discussion with about what Jesus exactly meant when he said "the eye is the lamp of the body." Like a deer in the headlights, that poor man was