When You Like Someone Too Much, Too Soon

By Amy Andersen, Founder and CEO of Linx Dating

One of the most common patterns I see, even among confident and accomplished men and women, is not a fear of intimacy. It is giving too much emotional weight to something that is still forming.

You meet someone you genuinely like. The energy feels promising. Conversation flows easily. And before there is consistency, clarity, or time, your nervous system quietly steps in and starts doing all the work.

You begin monitoring texts, assigning meaning to silence, and replaying interactions. Not because something is wrong, but because hope has outpaced reality.

Early dating is meant to feel light, curious, and open. But when we assign long-term meaning too early, it stops feeling expansive and starts feeling destabilizing.

Here is a grounding truth I share often with my clients. New connections do not deserve full emotional capacity yet. That capacity is earned through presence, reliability, and follow-through over time.

Keeping your options open does not mean emotional detachment or endless dating. It means staying rooted in your own life while connection reveals itself.

A simple question I often suggest asking is this. Does my life still feel full when I do not hear from this person?

If the answer is no, the solution is not leaning in harder. It is coming back to yourself. Your routines. Your friendships. Your body. Your sense of steadiness.

The right connection will not require hyper-vigilance. It will not cost you peace.

Calm is not boring. It is information.

And the relationships that last are the ones that feel grounding, not consuming, from the very beginning.