You speak of all this pain and suffering as some new phenomenon, as if you're just finding out that it takes a while (and perhaps many broken hearts and disappointments) to find love. What it shouldn't take is being victimized and abused.

Dating is hard, but not death-defying. It shouldn't put you in harm's way. Dating takes patience, courage, curiosity, and a thick skin, and yes, sometimes you'll meet bad actors along the way, but hopefully you can avoid them.

I'm sorry you've had a tough go of it, Sanni, all I can say is I hope you use your "rest" time to hit the reset button and press on.