I’ve been in a relationship with my girlfriend for just over a year now and I’m starting to realize that I no longer see a future with her. I try to stay in love, but everyday it seems like an uphill battle.

I have noticed small changes in my attitude as of recently, such as finding other women oddly more attractive than usual, finding myself more impatient and irritated with my girlfriend, and more interested in going out to parties with my friends.

I’m not the type of guy who wants to leave his girlfriend for the hope of a one-night stand or anything sexual, I’m just looking for someone I can see a future with. However, I still have many feelings of compassion for her. I’m afraid that breaking up with her would cause her to perform poorly this semester and that our mutual friends would reject me. I just want her to be happy and us to be nothing more than close friends. Any advice would be extremely helpful, because I don’t want to let these feelings drag on too long.