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Heather

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Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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  • #446268
    Heather
    Participant

    Hi Anita and Alessa,
    Something you both touched on also resonates with me, about caring about people I love and not wanting to disappoint them. I mentioned my friend said that this man was flirting with me. At the time I thought maybe my friend was judging me or disappointed in me for my behavior and that increased my sense that I had done something wrong. I don’t know if she really was, but she’s one of my best and oldest friends so believing she thought badly of me was a strong negative feeling that probably contributed to the guilt I felt.

    #446267
    Heather
    Participant

    Hi Gunnar, yes I think I will do exactly what you suggest about deciding what to do in a future situation. And thank you for your kind words <3

    #446266
    Heather
    Participant

    Hi Anita, thank you for your reply. This is definitely true and resonates strongly with me:
    “Your responses reveal a strong tendency toward self-judgment, overthinking, and persistent anxiety, especially when it comes to perceived mistakes. You struggle with forgiving yourself when you feel you’ve acted imperfectly, and your thought patterns suggest perfectionism in relationships and interactions—where even minor, harmless situations can feel like personal failings.”

    I don’t know where it came from, I think my home life growing up was generally healthy and supportive. I think some of it is just how I am, overly sensitive, self critical, and not wanting to disappoint people I love. And a perfectionist in relationships and how I “show up” in the world. Maybe there is something in the way I was raised, I have to think about it more. But I remember internal anxiety as a kid more than any consistent external factors that would have caused me to be this way. Thanks again for helping me work through this. <3

    #445821
    Heather
    Participant

    Dear Anita,
    Thank you, that’s a really helpful perspective. You’re right, I feel much more guilty over how I was feeling and what I was thinking than what I actually did. I was feeling interested in this person, like I wanted their attention, and that made me feel guilty. And then I felt guilty that once I realized I was attracted and that they were maybe flirting with me, I didn’t leave the conversation. But you’re right, I didn’t do anything disloyal. Thank you for pointing out that needing attention and validation is human 🙂

    I think often my guilt is about my emotions. Sometimes it’s about my actions, but it’s usually a disproportionately large feeling of guilt compared to what I actually did. I don’t know why that is, but I have always been that way. Even when I was a kid I remember feeling like that. One time I didn’t pick my friend for a sports team and she was upset. I felt SO guilty, I cried to my mom. I couldn’t stand the thought that I had hurt my friend and what kind of person that made me. But my friend and I made up the next day, so my guilt was very disproportionate to any damage I had caused. And I’m still this way, but with adult problems! Thank you again for sharing your perspective and helping me work through it <3

    #445820
    Heather
    Participant

    Dear Alessa,
    Thank you for this reply, it is making me feel much better. Yeah, I have a hard time letting go of things that I feel I’ve done wrong and I definitely have some anxiety in other parts of my life like my work and sometimes friendships. I have a difficult time putting things into perspective sometimes too, I feel like I get stuck in feeling a certain way and it’s hard to tell how big a deal it *actually* is. Thank you again 🙂

    #445814
    Heather
    Participant

    This happened a year ago but I still feel guilty about it and not sure what to do (if anything). For context, I’m married to my wonderful husband for almost 2 years now. I was at a house party with one of my best friends who I was visiting in another city. We were drinking. An attractive man walked in, we started chatting. Within a few minutes he touched my hand briefly, so I thought maybe he was flirting with me. I immediately worked into the conversation that I’m married and we talked about my husband. We kept chatting for over an hour and he still continued to touch my hand from time to time. I was pretty drunk, but nothing else happened and the conversation itself did not feel flirty. We were talking about politics and our families and where we’re from. There was no flirty banter or anything, but the setting felt kind of intimate (late night party). Then my friend and I went home and that was that. But the next day my friend said something about how that man was flirting with me, and I was suddenly wracked with guilt that I was talking with an attractive man at a house party with alcohol involved. I feel guilty that I didn’t leave the conversation and that I was actually enjoying the attention, though I know I did the right thing by saying upfront that I’m married and was very clear about that. But still, I shouldn’t have let the conversation continue. Am I overthinking this and letting guilt take over? I don’t want to make my partner alarmed over a small thing, and I don’t want to tell him just to relieve my own guilt. At the same time we don’t have clear boundaries on behavior around the opposite sex, we both trust each other, but I genuinely don’t know if what I did would make him uncomfortable or not. Again maybe I’m making a big fuss over something small, I just want some outside perspective.

    I should also add that I have a recurring nightmare where I cheat on my partner and in the nightmare I always feel panicked and guilty, and I feel like that when I wake up too. I’ve never cheated in real life or been cheated on. So maybe I have a deep fear of hurting my partner or lack of trust in myself or just an over-active conscience? I don’t know.

    #445811
    Heather
    Participant

    Sure, as a new topic?

    #437010
    Heather
    Participant

    Hi David,

    Congratulations on your wedding! I wish you all the happiness. I’m a bit late to the thread, but I had a similar experience to you. I’ve been with my husband for 7 years, married for 1. A few months ago I was at a party without my husband, I had drunk a lot of alcohol, and I struck up a conversation with an attractive man I had never met before. Within a few minutes, he touched my forearm so I thought he was flirting with me. I quickly made it clear that I’m married. He didn’t seem bothered by that, and we kept talking for another hour or so. The conversation itself was not flirty (we were talking a lot about politics haha) but he continued to touch my forearm periodically and I didn’t stop him. Nothing else happened. But the next day I felt bad that I let myself keep talking with someone I found attractive who was probably flirting with me and that I didn’t set a clear boundary about touching my arm. I think I was enjoying the attention and I was drunk so I didn’t have the awareness to leave the conversation. Like you, I feel guilty and wonder if I should I tell my husband or will it just make him unnecessarily worried? I’m completely in love with my husband and I don’t feel like anything is missing from our relationship, so I do think this was an involuntary drunken response to an attractive person but I’m still angry with myself. Like you, I learned that I want to reduce drinking for many reasons including not putting myself in a situation like this again.

    One thing I wanted to add to what others have said, it might be a good idea to have a conversation about boundaries – what does your spouse consider flirting and what do they think is crossing a line? People have different ideas about this. I think I want to have this conversation with my husband but I haven’t worked up the courage/found a good way to bring it up yet. If anyone has suggestions on this I would be happy to hear. Wishing you all the best David.

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