remorse for something i did, this year

Hello, how are you? im 21, and i have a housemate who i wanted to be close friends really badly with. however, i don't think he wants the same. i've accepted it and moved on. however, there was a point for about a week where i wasn't able to accept it.

i now have remorse for something i did. one day, i noticed my housemate was looking very down/sad so i tried cheering him up by talking to him. at one point, he was exercising in the living room, i stupidly thought that it was a good opportunity to watch him and compliment him or offer him words of support.

At one point i was staring at his back while he was exercising, he was doing it quite far away from me and all i could see was his back. I then kept telling him that he was cool and that he looked like the anime character [edit at request to remove specific character name].

i did it to try to make his confidence better, but overall i only stared and cheered for like less than a minute, or less than a few minutes because it was too boring and he wasnt interacting with me much. i swear while i was watching i was quite far away in the living room.

one day later, i thought over it and i realized this behaviour may be sexual harassment because watching someone is included in the category of sexual harassment, so i apologized to him and i told him that he deserves personal space and to do his own activities without someone watching him.

so i apologized and realized my mistakes, im honestly not sure how he feels about it. what should i do? i feel a lot of remorse

he chose to do these exercises in a communal area. by that choice he waived his right to privacy. moreover, your intentions were undoubtedly good. you really have nothing to be remorseful about here. and, there is nothing remotely sexual about your conduct. please forget this. nothing happened.

Agreed - it does not sound like this was sexual in intent or effect whatsoever

Also, remember that on a practical level exercising and working out is quite a personal sort of thing.
You sound like a lovely person, so maybe offer to go out for a drink with him instead?

Jill87 wrote:Also, remember that on a practical level exercising and working out is quite a personal sort of thing.

... that he really shouldn't be doing in the living room. it's a living room, not a gym. i could understand him doing it in his bedroom, as that would be private and not infringe on others.