what does it mean to find out 'what i have to offer' to someone if i want a relationship? i think i'm emotionally available, dependable, and can support myself. i'm autistic so i'm not entirely sure what having 'something to offer' means. is it something tangible or intangible? or both at the same time?
>>18610620
It can be something both tangible and intangible, and it doesn't mean any one specific thing. I think the phrase is meant to make one introspectively reflect whether or not their life situation is balanced and well-off enough to support being in a relationship, since successful relationships almost always need some key components to work. You're emotionally available and depenedable, so you could "offer" someone security and support, which is very important. You can also support yourself, so you can pull your own weight financially too, which is also important, you could call this offering financial security. That's already a very good base for a relationship on your part and covers many of the absolute key areas.
>>18610654
>. I think the phrase is meant to make one introspectively reflect
Pretty much this.
It's not a literal, "I can give her a roof over her head and 3 square meals a day" thing.
It's a metaphorical, "Do I believe in myself, my self worth, and who I am as a person? Do I think I have something about myself that makes me special in some way and would like to share?"
It's similar to the line of thought that says that "You can't learn to love someone else, until you can learn to love yourself".
If you think you have nothing to offer, if you believe that you have no worth, that that means either trying to enter in a relationship to try and derive your worth from your partner, which is needy, unhealthy, escapist, and does not at all fix your root problems.
And in practical dating terms, almost always makes you come off as desperate or like you have no personality.
Even when such relationships do happen, often times there's a level of insecurity or neediness that ends up creating needlessly dramatic situations that do no good for mental health of any of the people involved.