u/Automatic_Foot_6781

So, I’m a guy who recently met a girl, and honestly, this is the first time in years I’ve felt this emotionally invested in someone this quickly.

We met, talked for hours naturally, jumped from topic to topic effortlessly, and eventually had what was basically our first date. We walked around, talked a lot, went to a bar together, and she even paid for the beer herself. At one point it got cold outside, I gave her my shirt, and she ended up wanting to keep it because she liked it and said it smelled like me.

The whole evening felt genuinely good. Too good, honestly.

And that’s where the problem starts.

I’ve had a history of opening up to people and then ending up rejected, friendzoned, or emotionally dropped. Because of that, I constantly expect a catch whenever something feels good emotionally. My brain immediately goes:
“This is probably fake.”
“She’ll lose interest.”
“There’s definitely a hidden problem.”

Even after the date went well, I started overanalyzing everything:
- slower texting
- shorter replies
- her mentioning exes
- her still being on dating apps
- her going to the mountains with friends and sending videos with another guy there
- small changes in tone

The weird part is: despite all this anxiety, communication between us never actually stopped. She still texts me first sometimes, shares things with me, jokes with me, asks for my help, etc.

At one point I admitted to her that she genuinely affected me emotionally and that I really liked her. I didn’t straight-up confess love or anything, but I was very honest. Instead of rejecting me, she basically just told me to calm down and stop overthinking so much. We kept talking normally after that.

We also had a small argument because I accidentally sounded arrogant while discussing IQ test scores. She got annoyed, called me out for it, and honestly she was right. But even after that, we still continued talking, joking, and interacting normally.

The issue is that I genuinely cannot tell anymore:
- am I noticing actual warning signs?
or
- am I just so used to disappointment that I physically cannot trust a good situation when it appears?

I feel like I’m constantly waiting for the moment everything collapses.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of anxiety at the beginning of something potentially real?
And how do you tell the difference between intuition/red flags and just fear caused by past experiences?

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some guidance on what to focus on next.

I started learning programming about 2–3 months ago (mainly Python), and recently moved into backend development. Here’s what I can currently do:

- Python basics + standard libraries (re, datetime, os, random, math)

- Work with lists, dictionaries, and file I/O

- Basic log parsing and data processing scripts

- SQL (MySQL): CRUD operations, filtering, aggregation, nested queries

- Connecting Python to MySQL using mysql.connector

- Git basics (add, commit, basic workflow)

Backend:

- Flask basics (routes, request/response)

- Building simple REST APIs (GET, POST, DELETE)

- JSON handling

- Basic authentication flow:

- User registration/login

- JWT token generation and decoding

- Working with headers (Authorization)

- Linking users and tasks in a database

Right now I can build a simple backend like:

- Register/login system

- Token-based authentication

- User-specific task endpoints

The problem is: I don’t really feel progress anymore. I can complete tasks, but I don’t know what actually separates me from a real junior backend developer.

So my questions:

1. What skills am I missing to be job-ready (junior backend)?

2. Should I focus more on projects, or keep doing exercises?

3. What would you recommend as the next step from this level?

I’d really appreciate honest feedback. Thanks.