She gaslights me all the time

Q. The background: I got my heart broken almost 10 years ago and completely stopped dating. I knew I needed to mend my heart and grow. Before I knew it, almost a decade had passed. I’m also a bartender, which can push potential partners away. I get judged hard when this has come up. Add never been married at 45, and a lot of people look at me like I’m an alien.

The problem: I met a wonderful woman over a year ago. When she walked in the door, my walls instantly came down. It wasn’t just sexual. There was something deeper that attracted me to her. I finally asked for her number a few months ago. She gave it to me.

Things couldn’t have gone better, for the most part. She’s had two divorces, and the reason I bring this up is because I know she’s been used and abused, but she has never taken any responsibility for her part. She is still in contact with her recent ex-husband. At the start, she painted a picture that I immediately thought didn’t add up.

During my 10 years of celibacy, I went through counseling and really thought about how I would approach dating. To say I have a strong intuition is an understatement. It’s a blessing and a curse. We had our first fight and it came out that she had lied about her dating history since her recent divorce, which shouldn’t have even been a problem. I understand people have a past. I still carried on because I fell in love with her. She makes me want to be a better man. I really feel she has the same feelings I do. When her walls come down and she looks at me, I can feel her love.

Here’s the rub: She completely ignores me and gaslights me all the time. It makes me feel bad about myself. When we met, she wasn’t working and I gave her $600 and told her I thought she needed some counseling to move past her own heartbreak. She hasn’t gone, and I don’t feel like she will. I know that’s not my decision to make.

To keep this short, I feel like walking away and giving up. My heart is hers and I know I’m the man she deserves. I know we are both terrified of being hurt, but I wouldn’t try if my heart wasn’t in it. How do I proceed?

CONFLICTED

A. “I feel like walking away and giving up.”

That’s your intuition talking, so listen. You’ve done so much work to find your inner compass. Why would you ignore it now?

If this relationship doesn’t make you feel great, you can exit, be sad, and move on. It is not your job to fix this woman or help her become a person who deserves your love. You have to evaluate the person in front of you, and whatever she is now is not someone you want as a partner. That’s all you need to know.

I think the initial excitement about her — after so many years of no excitement at all — made her seem like the most epic love. You met her and thought, “This is why I waited!” The truth is, a connection can be monumental without lasting forever. She woke you up from dating hibernation, and that’s wonderful. But it was clear pretty quickly that she can’t be more. There isn’t enough kindness, trust, or respect to make this work for both of you.

It’s time to break up so you can heal from this experience and enjoy whatever’s next. There are many people out there who would love to meet an unmarried bartender who wants to be great to a significant other. Really, marriage rates are changing so much. More people than ever are starting a first marriage in their 40s and 50s.

Your mid-40s unmarried advice columnist says it’s fine.

MEREDITH

READERS RESPOND:

Giving her $600 doesn’t buy you the right to dictate how she deals with issues. You can’t instruct her to go to therapy. I think you overestimate your intuition and you’ve simply made the wrong choice of partner. Just move on — you and she do not connect on any of the significant levels necessary for a successful relationship.

HIKERGALNH128

You should proceed by giving up on this highly toxic woman who was blessed with good looks. Not to be harsh, but the person on whom you need to concentrate is not her, it’s yourself.

JIM501

You know you’re the man she deserves? She clearly doesn’t know this. You love her but you want her to change? She doesn’t want to change! Baseline for dating should be someone who doesn’t ignore and gaslight you. Return to counseling to figure out why any of this is even remotely acceptable to you. Eek.

MIDGE

I think you should walk away. It’s not “giving up”; it’s moving on from something that doesn’t feel fully right for you . ... I will say that you also need to check yourself. I don’t like the way you described her as “used and abused.” It just didn’t sit right with me. And she really doesn’t owe it to you to account for her mistakes (if any) in her marriage. That’s something she needs to work out, and it’s up to her to get counseling. Not for you to tell her that.

BKLYNMOM

Your “strong intuition” is useless if you don’t actually listen to it.

BONECOLD

You need someone who can offer you support at some level, and this woman is doing the opposite. You’ll be much happier with someone else.

SUNALSORISES

Send your own relationship and dating questions to loveletters@globe.com. Catch new episodes of Meredith Goldstein’s “Love Letters” podcast at loveletters.show or wherever you listen to podcasts. Column and comments are edited and reprinted from boston.com/loveletters.