Hi all

I'm posting to seek advice about the possible end of my relationship with my girlfriend of one year. Thanks in advance for any help!

My girlfriend and I have had the "perfect relationship" for the first 8 months or so but recently she's admitted she's begun to be less sexually attracted to me. She still loves me and we are the best of friends, have a wonderful time together, even when we meet up now. We have lots of similar interests, a similar sense of humour, spend lots of time together, go on fun dates and have all of the same ideals and priorities in life. After 2-3 months together we both said how we'd never had a relationship that was so positive and "perfect" and we were just having the best time of our lives.

Initially we put the problems down to her being super stressed as she has just started her first "proper job". We then thought it may be that the relationship we have is something she desires a little later in life, rather than now and as a result she's subconsciously rejecting it. She had originally suggested we could move in together this summer but three months later began to have big doubts about that, possibly as it was always too early to move in together? We also considered that she may have committment problems as she always tends to be the one who breaks up with boyfriends and she had no logical reason to want to end this relationship, as everything seemed so perfect!

I gave her some time and space to think about things and during that time she came to the conclusion she has grown to see me more like a really close friend than anything more than that. We've been very open and honest about things but she has still not been able to break up with me after meeting a couple of times where I was anticipating. She says this is partly due to not wanting to hurt me, partly not to hurt herself and partly as she has a big fear she will regret it. All my friends and family including mutual friends feel it's a huge shame as we are so great together.

Is there anything we can do to work it out? Can the lust in a relationship return? Is it best to just break up and then she'll realise whether it's the right thing or not? I feel like it's too great a thing to throw away and want to give the relationship every chance I always thought meeting the girl of your dreams and her being your "best friend" was a bit of an exaggeration but this relationship has shown it certainly can be true.

Thanks for reading, any advice much appreciated!