I'm a single guy and not dating and haven't been for a very long time. Albeit if I'm honest going way back to pre-teens I never saw myself as a family guy. I've always been just myself. There was never some moment where I saw a bright light and trumpets sounded and I was a mgtow. I have always just sort of gone my own way.

I did always refuse to become a hermit though. It's not easy by any means. You have to try things you haven't before. I've done this tons of times, some things stick others don't. You have to get past the people (mostly women) who think you are weird or creepy for not living to their expectations. As you get older you have to accept that everything you do isn't going to be "adult" things where you hang out at a nice restaurant or stay up late at a sports bar or whatever. I never cared for drinking and club culture so that wasn't too tough. Find like a fun guy thing to do one night or weekend? Guess what, your friend is going to want to bring their kid along, because they have one. It's time to learn to put up with the kid, or even better be nice to the kid and actually like them. It's not always that bad. In the end though, it's hurdle after hurdle, but I'm not a weird hermit because I tried. I don't have a ton of friends, but I have a handful of long-time friends that have survived quite a bit and I don't expect to go anywhere. More recently I've tried to pick through my family and build up some of that as well, with about the same result really.