You don't know me---I'm still new in town, but I read up on the discussion from the other day. You probably don't want to hear a stranger's advice, but I offer it on the slim chance that I can help you...
Believe me, I empathize with the sentiments you expressed. For many years, I thought similarly---my town shunned me time and time again, and I dismissed the idea of ever solving the mysteries of friendship, let alone love. I convinced myself that solitude was better for my research---why allow myself to be distracted? Why get tangled in a flighty relationship that will never last?
Then a curious young adolescent snuck into my garage, and he shocked me to my core by admiring my crazy ideas. From then on, we were friends---and around the time we risked our very lives to save each other, I realized that that meant more than I ever could've imagined. With a friend at my side, I finally had the motivation I needed to finish my life's work.
But even with a dear friend in my life I still didn't believe that romance could find me. I scoffed at the idea of love at first sight---until I swept a wonderful woman onto my horse. When I saw her, somehow, against all rational sense, I instantaneously knew she could change my life. I soon discovered we had mutual interests I never expected to find in another person, and she embraced me for who I was, despite my eccentricities. If I were superstitious, I'd call it a miracle.
My point is---if you'd asked me if love had meaning for most of my life, I would've said it wasn't. But at 40 I made my first friend...and at 70, I met my first love. If it wasn't too late for me, it's certainly not for you. As you said, you don't need true love to achieve happiness...but you're too young to lock yourself away. Don't lose heart.
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Believe me, I empathize with the sentiments you expressed. For many years, I thought similarly---my town shunned me time and time again, and I dismissed the idea of ever solving the mysteries of friendship, let alone love. I convinced myself that solitude was better for my research---why allow myself to be distracted? Why get tangled in a flighty relationship that will never last?
Then a curious young adolescent snuck into my garage, and he shocked me to my core by admiring my crazy ideas. From then on, we were friends---and around the time we risked our very lives to save each other, I realized that that meant more than I ever could've imagined. With a friend at my side, I finally had the motivation I needed to finish my life's work.
But even with a dear friend in my life I still didn't believe that romance could find me. I scoffed at the idea of love at first sight---until I swept a wonderful woman onto my horse. When I saw her, somehow, against all rational sense, I instantaneously knew she could change my life. I soon discovered we had mutual interests I never expected to find in another person, and she embraced me for who I was, despite my eccentricities. If I were superstitious, I'd call it a miracle.
My point is---if you'd asked me if love had meaning for most of my life, I would've said it wasn't. But at 40 I made my first friend...and at 70, I met my first love. If it wasn't too late for me, it's certainly not for you. As you said, you don't need true love to achieve happiness...but you're too young to lock yourself away. Don't lose heart.