ADVICE: When you like someone more than he or she likes you

The feeling you get when you meet someone and feel a strong mutual attraction beyond just friends can be a thrill.

But sometimes you can later find out what seemed like heavy flirting was really just this person’s way of being nice.

When you begin to have romantic feelings for someone and you’re wondering if he or she feels the same way back, it’s important to be upfront and ask but to also realize and accept the possibility of rejection.

Once you accept the possibility of rejection, it’s up to you to figure out exactly how the other person feels. If he or she feels the same as you, that’s great, but if they don’t, it’s something you have to accept.

If this person rejects you, it’s probably not because he or she doesn’t like you in general, but because he or she just might not be into you as anything more than a friend. It could be they are trying to avoid adding romantic feelings into the mix as to not ruin a perfectly good friendship.

After you talk to this person about your feelings stretching beyond wanting to be friends, talk to him or her and find out if a relationship is possible later on down the road. If there isn’t, and you’re the one who likes that person more, accept it but don’t let it get you down.

It may not be what you wanted to hear but for the other person it may be that they see everything as going great by being just friends. If you do feel down about not being liked as more than that it’s important to keep busy with things that make you happy and to focus on yourself.

There is a possibility this person may just want to see something more out of you than just being someone who wants a relationship with him or her. Being able to be your own person and having separate interests from someone you like is something the other person tends to find attractive.

In time, things could change, especially if it’s a case of the other person wanting to see something more out you. So if he or she didn’t completely turn down the idea of being something more than friends in the future, then try again later and see where he or she stands.

If there isn’t the possibility of a romance happening later then the best thing to do is to continue being friends. More times than not, friendships aren’t worth making awkward or have ending because one person wants something more out of it than the other.

Sometimes people are just better off as friends.

Someday, when the timing is right and when you find the right person, everything will fall into place.