<human>: It's been quite a while since I've really loved anyone, in a passionate way.  My last "love" relationship ended over 1.5 years ago.  For the next few months I was very self conscious and didn't feel like dating anyone, since I was just afraid I wasn't worth it.

Over the past few months I have been dating people and I have liked some of them.  I've dated a few for quite a while, before realizing that I really enjoyed them mostly as friends, and I didn't feel like I was ever going to love them because they just lacked that overall quality that I really felt attracted to as a whole.

My problem is that at this point I'm not sure when it will happen, or even how.  I most recently broke it off with someone when she asked to be more serious, because I was merely trying to *make* myself love her, and it didn't feel right to have to force yourself to love someone that you wouldn't otherwise have pictured yourself with.

People give lots of advice, "it will happen when you least expect it," "focus on being happy alone," and things of that nature.  I honestly do find that these are true, and I've noticed (lately) that I tend to date someone I'm not really into just to not be alone, but I recently felt like if I really want to find a significant relationship I need to stop relying on people like a crutch like this.

So when this happens to you, what do you do to help things out for yourself?  It's not that I want to become a monk, but I'd like to do some positive things to put myself in a position where I can really meet new people and make real connections in my life with someone I really connect with deep down.

Can you condense the text into three sentences or less?
<bot>: Haven't loved anyone in a while, and realized that hopping from dating one person to another is very emotionally numbing and doesn't result in lasting connections, wondering what to do to position myself to meet someone I really connect with.