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Should I stay or should I go?

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  • #120464
    ZXYOP
    Participant

    Well, where do i begin…

    I’ve been with my boyfriend for 6 months. I’ve had a countable number of relationships in the past and those who have been would probably agree how every relationship is almost very different. However, this particular relationship is the one and only that I have felt was the one I was serious about taking to the long run, and if I must say, marriage. At least for the first few months, until what has happened recently which will be explained further in this post. I have always woke up feeling very blessed knowing that there is this person I call my boyfriend treating me so selflessly (or so i thought) everyday and making my happiness his priority. He has always been sweet in both his words and actions (not sweet talking but saying the simplest of things like ‘your happiness is my utmost priority’, ‘I’d always put you first’. PS: this is his first relationship and when he was chasing me, I did tell him that he might not know what a relationship is really about. I told him that i had no doubts about him liking me but I told him that he might only be wanting a relationship because all he was experiencing back then was the “good times” and I told him that a relationship isnt just about the good times, but more importantly, walking through both good and BAD with someone and not giving up on each other. Being naive and probably not thinking far enough, he told me that he’d show me that he would be worth my time and that he would be willing to go through shit with me (not just the good times that is). I told him that I would give him a chance after seeing how he was trying so hard and that he seemed like a nice guy, because even after I voiced my concerns he did try to show me that he would be willing to give us a shot.

    So… fast forward a few months into the relationship. I felt like the happiest girlfriend in the world. Our conversations were intense and great, and so deeply connected on a level I have never experienced with any other guys I have met or been with. I felt like he was the one, the one I have been searching for so long, the reason why no other guys worked out in the past. And I constantly told people around me how blessed I felt to have met him and given that shot at our relationship despite my initial fears and doubts. We were ging strong and barely quarelled, and even if we did, we managed to resolve things almost immediately. He consistently reiterated that I was the most important thing in his life and that he would do anything to make me happy.

    Call it my fault or what, I took his words very literally. To give a background of our situation, he studies a different course in university from me and so our social circle in school is not the same. Because of the nature of his course, most of the people he mixes with in school are females. In fact, most of the time he would be with a bunch of females in school. At first, because he showed me how much he loved me, I never quite felt insecure or minded that fact. But over time, I guess slight insecurities and curiosities kicked in and I felt like he was literally seeing them more often than he saw me and being a girlfriend, it was not easy to shut away thoughts of whether he had feelings for these girls. Furthermore, I have met them and I didnt really like them because they made some mean comments about me. Anyway, so yeah i started telling him how i felt and asked him whether he could just see them as school mates and nothing more. I told him i wasnt comfortable with him hanging out with them out of school hours because I just didnt like the feeling of picturing him having a great time with a bunch of females even if it meant that he saw them as merely friends. I am aware that this sounded a little much but I kept holding on to his words on “I’d do anything to see u happy”. And i told him that honestly, i was not happy with that happening. Inititally, he did give in and said that he hasnt hung out with them out of school hours since he got together with me. In fact, i had my reasons for feeling insecure because when we were still in our dating phase, one of the females was always constantly texting him and I felt like from her messages, she gave me the vibe that she did see him more than a friend. But he told me he has never had feelings for her and I do trust him on that. So to me, as a girlfriend, I felt like it was only fair i made such a request. As time went by, things started changing. We began to have more intense and frequent quarrels and I realised somethings about him that really made me reconsider his true personality. Initially when we quarelled, he would be very motivated to solve things together with me and we did it. But this time, he just started shunning away and ignoring me, like he would not contact me for a day or two and when I did contatc him he would say things like “ignorance is bliss”. Which I found really inconsiderate and I said “what happened to your promise of putting my happiness first” and he started saying “sorry i overpromised and couldnt deliver. I guess i just care about myself more.” I felt so hurt and questioned everything that he has said to me. like the good things about how i would always be his priority. But he was behaving like a completely different person. This time I would always be the one to try to turn things around because he would spiral himself into a ball of negativity and i told him “this is what i told you a relationship is about- there WILL BE quarrels and bad times. U told me you would face them with me. why are you being so negative now” and he would just be like “i dont know dont ask me. i dont know”. he just felt like a completely different person and i was so lost. maybe this was his true identity and he was just tired of putting up a false”nice” front in the initial relationship. And i was right.

    Fast forward to this month, we had the greatest tiff of all time that stemmed from something really insignificant. He ignored me for a good two days and I couldnt take it so i contacted him and he went all sarcastic and cold to me and I tried my best to talk to him very calmly and told him not to give up and to think of the good times and memories we have come this far to go through together. He spoke back in a totally cold manner with NO FEELINGS and told me that he was sick and tired of our quarrels and that he wanted to leave and not have restrictions on his lifestyle and that he was tired of being someone he was not (like him putting my happiness first like he said) and he told me that he felt like he was too selfish and that he loved and respected himself more and that he would rather just stay single. I broke down and told him that it was so unfair because the matter of argument was something so trivial to begin with and i couldnt understand why he would take things to this extreme level. I guess he just bottled alot of his feelings up and he exploded. so i guess the argument was secondary. He started saying alot of harsh things to me like how he has been enjoying himself in the two days of not contacting me and started making spiteful comments like telling me that he felt no love for me anymore. I believed him and i tried my best to make him come around. We then settled on taking things slow but still being in the relationship.

    However the problem now is that i spoke to him on the phone yesterday and asked what his definition of taking things slow is, and he said that he wanted no restrictions from me as to who he could and would hang out with. Deep in me i knew that this would never get anywhere because I felt like if there were completely no boundaries then wouldnt it equate to a friendship. He also told me that he’d rather stay single but he’s only choosing to stay for the sake of me. he said that he felt obliged to still care for me (but in my mind i suspect that its just the fact that he still has feelings for me and not that he really loves me and wants to be with me). He admitted that hes selfish and that he isnt and will not be willing to do things just to make me happy anymore and that i should just trust his morals. But after all these harsh words that he has said to me I cant help but to feel like i need even more security and assurance from him than ever. He is indeed a very selfish person and pretty childish because this one time we joined a school club together and some of the seniors complimented me saying that they felt that i had the potential in the sport and he immediately looked glum. I asked why, he said he felt jealous that i was getting compliments but he wasnt. This really made me shift my impression of him and I knew from then on that deep in him, he has this need to be better than me and i told myself that someone like that would not be a good potential partner. Is he not going to congratulate me in future when I get a pay rise? Or when i succeed? There are just so many factors about his true colours i have finally seen that are enough to draw me away but I still keep holding on to the fact that i have never encountered any one like him who has connected with me so deeply. I feel really lost as to what to do now. I know that there isnt a solution that would mett my needs but i also dont want to let him go because a part of me still feels so strongly towards him. He did tell me that he still feels strongly towards me. I have graudated recently and he still is a student and so he is more busy now than i am, and one thing that also pisses me off is how he constantly goes on saying how school is making him very busy and that he doesnt really have the time and feels the need for this relationship. i asked him why did he even start it in the first place and he says “its my first relationship and i have no idea what to expect. i thought it would only be full of good times and no arguments. but if i had known it would be this way i wouldnt have started it in the first place”.
    The truth hurts. But that aside, i really feel lost..

    Would appreciate if anyone of you could advise me on my situation. Thanks loads x

    #120465
    Mishika
    Participant

    Hi zxy

    You are not alone, be assured. A first love is pretty intense and I’ll bet most people remember those heady days of romance and desire.

    Sad to hear that it turned sour but it is a most energetic age with ups and downs, anxieties, hopes, disappointments. Your symptoms sound very familiar.
    See what I believe in is that if you really loved him set him free because right now he might be feeling suffocated because you dint like his friends and asked him to not meet them after school hours which he used to enjoy and because he might be feeling pressurised he asked you to not tell him whom he should meet or not so just set him free, if he comes back then hes yours, If he doesn’t comes back he was never yours.

    And because you are feeling lost and lonely you might read this :

    Are you Tired of feeling Lonely?

    Thanks
    Mishika:)

    • This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by Mishika.
    #120469
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear xyop:

    My input: You have a very honest young man for a boyfriend. I am impressed by the level of his honesty- indeed you are blessed with an opportunity to have an honest partner for life if you correct a misunderstanding you have about what a loving relationship should be. The fault of thinking is in your thinking, not his.

    He was honest when he said to you: ““its my first relationship and i have no idea what to expect” Unfortunately you “knew” what to expect: a man who will be selfless, have little or no regard for himself while all his regard is for you; a man who will sacrifice his needs and wants for you; a man who will accommodate your needs and wants at any cost to him.

    At first he went along with what he thought a relationship should be and he said things like: “your happiness is my utmost priority,” “I’d always put you first,” and “I’d do anything to see u happy”.

    He didn’t know it doesn’t work. It can’t possibly work that way. He initially stopped hanging out with his females peers in school, and initially he gave in to you during quarrels. And then he found out…it is not working for him. He was confused at first (” “i dont know dont ask me. i dont know”) and at times he stopped feeling love for you, shunning and ignoring you.

    He told you that “he was tired of being someone he was not (like him putting my happiness first like he said…
    He admitted that hes selfish and that he isnt and will not be willing to do things just to make me happy anymore.”- he discovered during the course of his first relationship that it doesn’t work for one partner to SACRIFICE his well being so to accommodate the other’s desires. It is not selfishness, it is human nature to NOT sacrifice oneself on an ongoing basis. This is true for you as well- you are no less “selfish” than he is.

    A relationship should be a Win-Win deal, not a Lose (for him) and a Win (for you). A relationship should not and cannot be healthy and loving if it is all about your wants, your feelings. What about his wants, his feelings? They are just as valuable as yours.

    He is a very honest person, saying: “i thought it would only be full of good times and no arguments. but if i had known it would be this way i wouldnt have started it in the first place”.

    Who wants UNECESSARY bad times, unnecessary arguments? Why accept these as a part of a relationship

    Make it a Win-Win proposition or let him go.

    anita

    #120470
    Alien incident47
    Participant

    A few things that I see here , you only knew him for 6 months, not much time to get to know someone, you are more relationship mature than him, so you expect more he is still learning. His friends are females so yes he has an insight of what women want but not the experience. He most likely missed the connection he had with his friends,so in your jealousy you were controlling him. So he did make sacrifice for youin the beginning but he missed his friends. When you received compliments , it seems he didn’t know how to react that he got jealous, another sign of relationship immature, when in fact he should have been proud or happy for you. Sometimes we need to step back and look at why he or she feels or acts a certain way and not assume because they know better. There is still hope with your relationship with him it’s going to take work . One thing I have learned is to lover yourself more ,you can’t love anyone else unless you learn to love yourself.

    #120479
    Inky
    Participant

    Hi zxyop,

    If those girls weren’t mean to you, I would say you were over reacting. By him hanging out with them and receiving that one girl’s texts knowing that they don’t like you, he at the time was tacitly choosing them over you.

    Then you took a stand.

    And I’m sorry to say, that he chose them.

    To the point that he is now cold to you. Yes, on paper you are in a relationship. But you’re not REALLY in a relationship.

    And now you are in the adult world. And he is still a student. It’s time for you to Level Up. With a full grown man.

    Let him learn life’s lessons. Without you. Perhaps that will be his hardest lesson of all. When, not if, when he comes back (they always do) say, “You had your chance.” And mean it.

    Best,

    Inky

    #120555
    Jessy Mae
    Participant

    Dearest X,

    First of all I want to say that I completely understand where you’re coming from and I too have made the same mistakes. I’m going to tell you something that might be hard to take, but hear me out. From everything you’ve described I can tell you exactly where it all went wrong. When you got jealous of the other girls instead of trusting him. You were insecure and started nagging him about them. Men hate that. So what if they were texting him, he was WITH you. Just ask him politely to pay attention to you, or even better start showing some skin, and he’ll drop the phone fast. It might have been his first relationship, but he was honest from the start and while you were too, what you taught him was that women are ultimately insecure. I’m going to tell you a secret about men and how to deal with them. You can choose to take my advice or not, but trust me, this works. There are just a few things you need to know first.

    All men are selfish, and so are women. It’s human nature. It’s also the male nature to pursue. Now you need to ask yourself if you really want him back. Then you need to come to terms with the fact that it could really be over, even if it hasn’t’ been said yet. That isn’t easy to do, because you keep thinking about him and all the good times you had together. You NEED to do this and be OKAY before you can do what you need to do next. You need to disappear.

    Here is the secret. You need to STOP TEXTING OR CALLING HIM!! Wait. Wait. Wait some more. If he truly has feelings for you, he WILL eventually text or call you. It may take a few days, it may take a couple of weeks but you MUST BE STRONG my dear. If he doesn’t, then it truly is over, but if he does, then you have a chance. Don’t let him know you are excited to hear from him. Tell him you’ve been busy and had hardly noticed you hadn’t heard from him. Make HIM jealous. He’ll start wondering what you’ve been up to. It will drive him crazy. If he asks to see you, say you’d love to but then be busy. Don’t blow him off, just have something else going on when he wants to come over. (Don’t tell him you’re just washing your hair and painting your nails – it’s not his business WHAT you’re doing, just that you’re busy) Make him sweat. He will imagine all sorts of things. So what, that’s not your problem. Remember all the reasons you got mad at him.

    Don’t make him sweat it out too long though, give him options. Yes, you’re busy Friday night, but you could meet for coffee on Sunday (or something like that). Then be the sweet, loving, funny person he fell for and completely forget about talking about any of the things your argued about. Don’t bring up the past. Leave it. He’s not with those girls, he’s with you. But you’re a busy woman now that you’re not in school. So don’t stay longer then an hour. Have somewhere to be. TRUST ME! He will realize you’re not sitting on the shelf where he left you waiting for him to get back to you. And don’t be. You’re a young, beautiful, vibrant, intelligent woman who can have any man she wants. (Tell yourself this. Say it again. Again!) Because you believe it, so will he and he’ll want that woman back. He won’t want some other man getting the awesome woman that is you!

    What will you get out of this? You’ll either get him back or you won’t, but ultimately you’ll feel better about YOU. And truly, that is the only way you will be happy.

    Blessings & Love
    Jessi

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