It took me a long time to get out of the foolish crush-rejection-depression cycle. I think it's a pernicious and dangerous Hollywood myth that courtship works by "pursuing" a crush and "winning" their affection. In reality, as opposed to daydreaming about magical wish-fulfillment, I eventually learned to develop much healthier relationships and far more easily by first developing genuine friendships with women based on shared interests (in my case, volunteering for animal welfare causes), which often mutually developed into romantic playfulness without needing to "pursue" or "convince". It's fascinating to observe how mutual attraction grows naturally, with only your organic personalities, and without the artificial Hollywood fertilizer of "wooing" a mate by "showing off", giving gifts, etc.