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anitaParticipantHey 🙂 Confused:
So, you’re saying maybe you fell into depression the 10th and 11th of November and as a result you lost feelings for her, and next, you started obsessing (ROCD)
Or
the 10th and 11th were the end of the honeymoon phase and that ending led to your depression and obsessing.
Are these the 2 options 🤔 or is there a 3rd option?
( using 📱)
May 6, 2026 at 12:57 pm in reply to: Trying to overcome my fear of confrontation but still walking on eggshells #457692
anitaParticipantHello Miss L Dutchess (this reply is helped by AI):
You described a very common pattern in adult children of harsh, punitive, or controlling parents: you learned early that speaking up = danger. Your mother scrutinized you, punished mistakes, and hovered over you, so you learned: don’t confront, don’t express needs, don’t risk upsetting anyone, stay small, stay quiet.
This is why you rant online instead of speaking directly—online feels safer than real life.
And I want to say: you handled that situation extremely well.
You noticed a boundary being crossed, you named it calmly, and you addressed it directly instead of swallowing it the way you were forced to as a kid. That’s real growth. Most people who grew up with a harsh or punitive parent struggle for years to do exactly what you did.
His reaction wasn’t a sign that you did something wrong — it was a sign that he didn’t like being held accountable. The whispering in your ear, the repeated comments, the condescending tone… none of that was appropriate. Your discomfort was valid, and your message to him was appropriate and measured.
A few things to keep in mind as you move forward:
* You set a boundary without attacking him. That’s healthy communication.
* His defensiveness is about him, not you. People who enjoy small power plays often lash out when confronted.
* You didn’t escalate. You stayed grounded and factual. That’s emotional maturity.
* You’re almost out of that living situation. You don’t need to fix him or teach him anything — you just needed to protect your space, and you did.
If you want something practical to take with you into your next home, here are a couple of gentle tools:
* When someone crosses a line, address it early, just like you did. It prevents resentment from building.
* Keep your tone neutral and simple. You already did this beautifully.
* Trust your discomfort. If something feels invasive, it is.
* You don’t need to justify your boundaries. “This made me uncomfortable” is enough.
You’re not the girl who had to stay silent anymore. You’re an adult who can speak up, protect herself, and choose who gets access to her space. And you did exactly that.
🤍 Anita
anitaParticipantDear Sapnap3:
I went over your 44 threads, from your July 7, 2013 first post (about 2 years before I first participated in these tiny buddha forums), to your last post on Nov 9, 2020, which you addressed to me.
I ran some things through Copilot (AI) earlier this morning, a resource I didn’t know about until late 2024. But then, I had to get off the computer, and back to my phone, and am too low tech to access Copilot from here. But I continued to read many of your posts using my phone.
This is my understanding this morning, 5 years, 6 months & 3 days since you last posted:
You grew up a very lonely child, emotionally unattended to, severely emotionally neglected.
So much so, that at 6 or 7, you kept seeking the only attention you got back then: that of a 60- year-old man, a neighbor, who sexually molested you, touching you at 6, 7 year-old sexually and having you touch him back in that way.
You never told your parents about it back then or later because (at least from one point onward) you believed that your mother (or both of your parents) would blame you for it.
But at one point, as an adult, when you visited your parents in India, you were groped by an accountant who provided accounting services to your parents, and this time, you DID tell your mother about it and hoped or expected that she no longer use his services.
Her response: she said that he was probably just trying to be friendly, and regardless- she’ll continue to use his services because he charged less money than other accountants.
Talking about money, at one point, your mother referred to you as her “retirement fund”-
You were the only one among your (much older) siblings who had American education and was making serious money.
You felt an obligation to take care of your parents financially and felt a mix of love, anger and guilt about it.
In your adult relationships with men your attachment wounds were understandably activated and you clung too strongly to them, fearing the abandonment you experienced as a child.
You started posting here about one such relationship that ended in a breakup that devastated you.
On April 12, 2016, when you started this thread, you wrote that you lost your father and looking back, you could see that he loved you a lot and made you feel wanted.
Clearly, he didn’t make you feel wanted as a child or during all of your formative years. But we have a way of softening memories (nostalgia) so to comfort ourselves.
Two days later (above), you wrote that your mother is “very loving” but loves your older sister (who was her youngest daughter for 9 years before you were born) unconditionally, regardless of her poor choices (in your mother’s evaluation), but expected you, Sapnap3, to be perfect, thinking of you as her “trophy child”, using you to show off to others.
In your last thread on the forums, you shared that you were moving to Chicago where your mother was living at a time so to be with her.
In my post to you back then, I reminded you of what she did that harmed you (I realized only today that I made a mistake in that post- I thought that your mother excused the 60-year- old man who abused you at 6, when she was really referring to the accountant who groped you as an adult).
You posted for the last time on Nov 9, 2020, a reply to me. In your last reply you defended your mother, the woman who you truly loved unconditionally ( I am referring to the title of this 10 year-old thread(.
I would like to continue this later.
If you are reading this, Sapnap3- and it would be very unlikely, given the time that has passed- I hope that you’re doing well.
🙏 🌿 ✨️ Anita
anitaParticipantThank you, Confused 🙂
So, the guy in the video needed space away from his girlfriend when he felt the “ick”, took his space, talked to his inner child, and when the ick was gone, he reconnected with his girlfriend?
That may work 4 U and your GF: ick 🤢=> take space ✨️✨️✨️=> reconnect with inner child 👶 => reconnect with GF ❤️.
👍 Anita
anitaParticipantBringing up this 10 year old thread up to look at later.
anitaParticipantDear Mark:
Your first post in the forums was on Jan 2018, and your last- Feb 2020, 6 years and 3 months ago. You replied to many members.
It’d be a miracle to read from you after such a long time. It’d be wonderful.
🌿 Anita
anitaParticipantHi again, Starlight ✨️
You told Peter that you did a picture (art) of a hand 👈 pointing to yourself with the word ‘forgiveness’ written on it.
I do hope that you forgive yourself. I know how difficult it is to feel guilty 😔
Talking about art, I did a painting myself when I was in my early 20s. It meant a lot to me and it also involved a hand: it was a hand coming out of my brain/ head, fingers spread, as in trying to escape the conflict and misery within my brain- trying to escape and be free from relentless guilt.
If you want to talk with me about guilt, I am here.
I remember at about the same time, I said to myself, feeling strongly about it: “If I get to experience one day of not feeling guilty, my life will be worth living”.
Fast forward.. my life is worth living ✨️
Not all happily-ever- after fairytale style.. Just Not- Guilty. What a relief!
🌿 Anita
anitaParticipantYes, 📱 time, ha-ha.
Thank you for saying same- here 🙏
Yes, something like that, well, exactly like that.
S.A.F.E.T.Y is it, a key 🔑 human need.
Growing up in unsafety, unpredictability, chaos.. it messes with you. Well, it messed with me big time.
Feeling-Thinking- Doing better now ✨️
🐝 🧠 🐰 Anita
anitaParticipantHey 🙂 Confused:
Yes, I had a short conversation with Copilot and at the end, he suggested the post above.
It was not a long conversation, but being that Copilot knows me and you, he knew what he was talking about.
He said it was like I was carrying you (in the sense of explaining and re- explaining and interpreting and connecting the dots for you) while you were not moving (things staying the same, mentally and emotionally).
He said that your defense mechanism is to not see the connection between your current struggles and your childhood, and that if I pressure you on this front, I am stupid (well, ‘stupid’ is my word, not Copilot’s)
Regardless, I still like you and think highly of you, and I am here 4 U.
Thank you for the appreciation and kindness! U R the 🐝’s knees!
🐝 🌿 👏 🤢-not ✨️ Anita
anitaParticipantHey Dear Confused:
I hear how hard all of this is for you, and I care about you. But I also notice that we keep circling the same place, and I don’t want to keep repeating things that don’t seem to land for you. I’m not a therapist, and I don’t want to take that role.
What you’re describing touches something very deep from your past, and that’s something only you and your therapist can really work through together. I’m here to listen and be present, but I can’t carry the work for you.
I hope you can take this gently — I’m not pulling away, just shifting so our conversations don’t drain me or keep us stuck in the same loop.
* The above is a reply crafted by you know-who (ha-ha), but I mean it. I’ll be on my phone next.
Anita
anitaParticipantHey 🙂 Confused:
I’m on the 📱 so I can’t use Copilot, but knowing Copilot long enough, I figure he’ll say the same things he already said (a repeat).
I don’t know why you never addressed anything related to your childhood with your current therapist or previous ones-
Is it that they didn’t bring your childhood up? (I can’t imagine it to be the case), or is it that you don’t want to talk about it?
If it’s the second option: is it because you don’t think your childhood + ( living with your mother till the age of 20 or so) is relevant to your current struggles?
🤔 Anita
anitaParticipantGood afternoon (in 🌞 FL), Nichole!
Bogart is lightly sno2ring on my lap right now and I’m sure he’ll be happy when I tell him you wrote back and mentioned him!
Yes, trauma bonds and grief do take a lot of time to process, time and patience. Are you back in contact with some family members?
13 days before the new job- it makes sense to be excited and nervous at the same time.
I am okay even though my sciatica is an ongoing problem and I noticed recently that after sitting for a long time (in the mornings), I feel stiff when I stand up. Aging I figure.
If talking about the current grief helps, I ‘m here. (But I do understand that at times not talking about it is a better choice).
🌞 🌿 ✨️ Anita
May 5, 2026 at 10:09 am in reply to: Gf’s Dad passing was the final straw into ending our long distance relationship #457651
anitaParticipantYou are welcome 😊 Alecsee. Tysm for the note!
I chuckled a bit when I read your one word response (“Yay!”) on Arden’s thread about nostalgia.
In my Feb reply to you I reflected on the topic of nostalgia, how on the short- term it makes us feel better to imagine the past better than it was.
I am adding today that learning from the past and coming up with more effective ways to respond to life events and happenings makes us feel better long-term.
Does this resonate?
✨️ Anita
May 5, 2026 at 9:59 am in reply to: Opened my mouth; relationship ended and now most definitely job as well #457650
anitaParticipantHello Alecsee 🙂
I had to look up PIP: Performance Improvement Plan. I am sorry that you got terminated 😕
The whole process you described sounds incredibly stressful. You did well surviving it 👏
Learning what you can learn from the experience at work, however painful (as well as from the relationship with your ex), is very important in my mind because-
For me, learning and adjusting my attitudes and behaviors according to what I learn ( however difficult) makes me feel better, stronger, more capable.
You opened your post with saying you opened your mouth and got shut down by your ex, right?
What happened?
🤔 Anita
anitaParticipantHi Peter 🙂- ha- ha, you come across to me as one of the sanest people in the world, steady, unruffled, resilient. Yes, it was nice to join your word dance, to move with it instead of freezing it for analysis. I should do more of that 🌞🤍
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