You are correct. My wife and I greatly appreciate each other and consistently express our mutual appreciation in actions and words.

She appreciates me as I am, without my "striving" to be someone she "deserves."

In the first place, no woman "deserves" a man at all. As far as I'm concerned, let women strive to deserve me.

The point is that I do not strive to be somebody who a woman "deserves." The only striving I do is to be the kind of man who meets the only standards that count. Those are the standards that I set for myself, to be the kind of man I can be proud to be. I give no consideration whatsoever to whether I become the kind of man a woman deserves.

Chances are, plenty of women would consider me less than they deserve. It doesn't matter to me. There is at least one woman who appreciates me, and one is enough; one is plenty.

I agree with the first part of your premise. There is no use complaining that women are seeking "a man who doesn't exist." It is a futile complaint. Women want what they want. If they are seeking a man who doesn't exist, then that is what they will find. It is of no consequence to me.

However, a man who expresses that complaint would be better advised to follow my advice to find the rare woman who appreciates him as he is, rather than following your advice to strive to be the kind of man that women "deserve."

Finally, I would note that since time began, men have been complaining about women, and women have been complaining about men. It is not likely to stop any time soon.