u/Fit-Spell-5126

My desires for this world, specifically the desire for a romantic relationship is currently overwhelming. It’s genuinely holding me back both mentally and spiritually. Living in the west has definitely played a role in this- just today I found myself acting COMPLETELY differently just to impress a girl who for some reason has so much influence on me whenever I see her around college (I’ve never even spoken to her 😭) As I’m writing this I appreciate how cringy it sounds but I don’t know what to do. The biggest challenge I’m struggling with is Lust. No Matter what I do I end up sinning privately and find my heart yearning for more Haram which influences how I interact socially with the opposite gender. I really want to attain true love for Allah so I can reform myself and become pious but I don’t know what I should do to achieve this, any advice is appreciated.

I’m torn between these two-both are respectable non RG unis, Leicester is ranked higher but apparently reading has more connections? Please correct me if I’m wrong!

Salam, I have quite a few female class mates who joke around with me. I have set a firm boundary of no physical contact but I still feel guilty as I normalised this when I reciprocated (I even find myself starting the jokes regularly) I don’t know what to do even if I stop from my end I’ve normalised it for so long I know they won’t, in this case can I laugh at their jokes? I don’t want to be rude and living in the west this sort of banter is normalised and is considered small talk.