How to mentally deal with feeling inferior from love?
About 3 years ago, I proposed to a girl (we’ll call her Girl #1) only to be rejected. An individual in my friend group then began talking to her romantically just a few months after I had moved on and they had a good thing going for a while. During this entire time, this kid would rub it in my face how he had her and that he didn’t. I was able to handle the situation stoically and eventually move on and start talking to a new girl (we’ll call her Girl #2) .
This time, she was also interested in me and we talked for a good few weeks but eventually things fizzled but i still find her attractive and wouldn’t mind talking to her again. Here’s where things take a shitty turn.
it came to my attention today that this girl is apparently interested in this kid. her friends were apparently sending pictures of her to him saying “she wants u.” he isn’t interested in her (because it’s “fucked”, something i honestly view out of pity) and he keeps showing messages and telling stories of how they approached him regarding this.
a mutual friend of both of ours assures that this was “all a joke” but idk who tf to believe anymore. the fact that this shit literally could have happened twice is blowing my mind. i genuinely worked so hard to re-build my confidence, my self-image after the first occurrence and it could have, and honesty might, come crashing down again. it’s the fact that i’ve failed twice and felt powerless twice. i couldn’t even look my parents in the eyes today because i genuinely felt like a failure (a feeling that’s been amplified).
i appreciate any advice.