I continue to try and reach out to an old friend, an old flame as they say, I don't know what to do about this?

I’ve messed up with that too once. Big time. It just kills me. I was caught off guard and said the wrong thing and lost that person forever.

If the person keeps giving you chances that’s a good sign. And you probably didn’t mess up as badly as I did. I wish you well.:-)

I think you need to have a frank discussion with this person.

“Do you still want me in your life?”

“How can I improve our relationship?”

Then respond accordingly and also be sure to tell he/she what you hope to get out of the relationship.

Communication.

It’s a valid concern, and yet, I’m not sure this is the most important point. Where does your responsibility lie in regards to actively working on these issues that keep coming up? I could be wrong (I don’t know you), but it looks like you could be putting forth a lot more effort towards these things. It is possible that one day the person will finally throw in the hat and give up, and if you are anything like me, that is going to feel like a huge failure. The problems that cut me the deepest are the ones I could have prevented. Instead, I opted for failure. That was a huge issue for me that I don’t wish it on anybody.

i would talk to the person and ask if you have any chance at rekindling. if not, perhaps you can just keep in touch. as for you, i would try to occupy myself with some other interests to work on getting over it. if it’s really devastating, try talking to someone, like a therapist.

Give it another try and just ask them if they want to rekindle the friendship.I hope they give you another chance

@cprevite has hit the nail on the head. Do exactly as he suggests.

Oh god, don’t have that “I still care about you” talk. That’s always dating death. You need a better plan than that because the talk never works.

She’s given you chances and you pushed her away so it’s “sweep her off her feet” time. Ask her out and if she agrees you gotta pull out all the stops.

Back off the whole “I’m so sorry” thing. The more you dwell on that the more desperate you appear in her eyes. Not sexy.

And hit the gym. That’s never a bad idea. It’s good for you and makes you more attractive to her.

Hi, There really isn’t enough information here to give you an opinion other than: “you should break it up”, because you have not detailed, for instance, what do you mean: “you keep messing up”?
But I do read, That your own opinion is that you are hanging on to that person, and still can’t seem to stop..

Sometimes whan we hang on to someone, it’s because they play a part in our life that we don’t know how to otherwise fulfil. In other words, it might not be “the person” that you are after, but something that you get from being with them.
Try and ask yourself what is it that you are afraid to lose along with them?

The key to letting go is to find a way to fill that void in your life without needing any other person, sometimes it’s only then, that we amke a trully free choice.

I’ve been in a situation like this before. It broke my heart that some people were lost forever. I think it’s a good sign that they’re giving you chances. They obviously care about you a lot. Good luck. I really hope it works out.
Oh, I mean, after you talk to them. I think openness & honesty is the best approach in this situation