In my case, I am a 22 year old male and I have never been in a relationship. While this is partially due to timing simply not working out and having spent a long time in quarantine due to COVID, a significant part of the reason for me not having been in a relationship is that I'm afraid of being "locked in" or "stuck" in a relationship with someone I don't click with.
More specifically, the main problem I have with getting in a relationship is that I'm worried about losing my autonomy and time to focus on things like school, work, hobbies, or relaxing (I'm a full time college senior and I work part time as well so I'm quite busy most of the week and I want to maintain my high GPA).
I also value my friends and family to the point that I wouldn't want to sacrifice those relationships for a romantic one that won't work out (Like if my family wanted to do something for Hanukkah, I'd invite my gf but if she doesn't want to come, I'd want to be with my family more since they're the ones who took care of me as a baby yk).
Along with all this, I should also note that I am high functioning autistic, don't like dating apps or going on dates where things don't work out (I can tolerate it if need be but it's draining),possibly demisexual, not the jealous type, and I value communication, mutual consent/respect, autonomy, maturity, and intelligence (normal and emotional) more than anything else (I do have a physical type though).
What should I do to get rid of this fear? Do any of you have similar experiences? Should I wait to date when I'm older?