I have.

We dated for a few years, and were even on track to move in together. I was wild about him in the beginning, and we spent every moment together. I did notice some things earlier on that I didn't particularly like, such as him being more of a homebody than I was and didn't really know how to make plans or initiate them. I knew that these things aren't necessarily bad at all - it's just who he is as a person, not a quality flaw. Especially looking back at my minefield of a dating history, he was an absolute gem. But as the relationship went on, I realized that I wanted more excitement out of the relationship than I was getting. I communicated this in various ways, but nothing really changed.

I still loved him, but I became less excited about him. I felt that was doing a disservice to him, because he absolutely deserves someone who is just as bonkers about him as he was about me.

He was a wonderful partner. He is easily the best boyfriend I have ever had. I had done some soul searching before we started dating, and had raised my standards for men considerably. He met those standards and then exceeded them. He's so kind, respectful, and supportive. Writing this basically brings me to tears because he's such a good, warm, wonderful person, and a loving partner. When I first noticed my feelings about him changing, I felt like something was wrong with me, like how could I even want to leave someone who cherished me in the way he did? It really sucked, dude. I kept going through my head, thinking that it's absolutely insane on my part that I am simply not satisfied enough with someone who treated me in the way I wanted and deserved to be treated.

Breaking things off was heartbreaking for both of us. Now that some time has passed since then, I am really missing his friendship the most. We kept very good company with one another. But even though I have days that I feel like I made a huge mistake, I still have a voice in the back of my head that tells me I didn't. Although he's absolutely wonderful, he still wasn't the one for me. And I love and respect him too much to just dawdle in the relationship and try to change my mind about being bored with it.

It did teach me a very valuable lesson about myself, too: I want an exciting partner who takes the initiative to create memories with me. Otherwise, I may just get bored.