The question you pose, ‘You deserve better… Do you though?’, perfectly sums up the central problem of your article. We have distorted the idea of ‘self-love’ so much through social media and the ‘you deserve everything’ culture that it has mutated into a form of self-centredness where nobody wants to take responsibility or give in (reach a compromise).

Nowadays, it’s very common to see these endless lists of demands, where someone sees themselves as the ‘prize’, expecting to find a partner as if they were a finished product – packaged and ready to please them (like those Chinese dolls) – whilst completely ignoring what they themselves bring to the relationship.

The logic is very blunt: *someone with all those exceptional qualities will also be looking for a partner of the same calibre. Lasting relationships require reciprocity, dealing with discomfort and joint effort, not a list of selfish demands.