Dating men when you've unlocked pattern-recognition skill feels like watching a toddler hide behind a curtain with their feet showing. Cute attempt, still obvious.
A narcissist will never truly change...they’ll only adapt. The moment you start to pull away, they’ll suddenly “see the problem.” They’ll say all the right things, cry, apologize, and promise to do better. But it’s all temporary. The “change” only lasts long enough to convince you to stay.
They don’t want to lose you because they care...they want to keep you because they need your energy, your empathy, your attention. They need someone to blame, someone to fix, someone to feed their ego. Once they feel secure again, the old behavior comes right back, worse than before.
The truth is, a narcissist doesn’t want to heal, because healing requires accountability. And accountability destroys their victim narrative. So no matter how many chances you give, nothing changes...because they don’t want it to.
Real change takes honesty, humility, and self-awareness...three things a true narcissist will never possess.