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December 24, 2024 at 7:50 am in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #440972ArdenParticipant
I was going to say a couple words, but then they turned into a long post. I don’t know how does that happen honestly..
Merry Christmas Anita, I hope you will have an amazing new year which is full with happy surprises, peaceful moments and with loved ones.
December 24, 2024 at 7:49 am in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #440971ArdenParticipantThank you so much, I might even make this poem into a form of art this year. I want to create things like that in this new year, will try to actually find some free time to do that for myself. I would love to send it to you also. I am finally feeling burn out after one year of never stopping. I stopped, I had days where I couldn’t work much. But I have never stopped worrying, or thinking about what’s gonna happen. That much chaos only has given me a couple years. Hoping it wouldn’t have any effect on my health long term. Looking ways to strengthen my stomach. It has been a really hard year, 2024. Will never forget.
I started to understand how people are never 100% honest in their friendships. While I was trying to see how to be transparent, seeing all the flaws, I started to think I was the one faulty. But now I see everyone hides many thoughts from one another.
You told me a practical person, selfless one, I might be in some cases. But I do that either out of love, or I do that out of being scared. I am realizing I’ve been a people pleaser which is tied to not having enough self-something (either respect or love, I am not sure) and I don’t really like people that much. I see their selfishness and I share my honest opinion when I can, but I mostly have to hide that honest opinion because it’s not a good time.
In those moments, I always thought I was being insincere but turns out, maybe everyone is like that.
Those insincerity within friendships is actually something I need to get used to and I should protect myself at all costs. There are no one in this world that I can count on 100% that would protect my rights fully, even your family, or your husband can forget about what you need. You need to always understand or at least try to understand what you need and then communicate that, if communication is not possible, you need to somehow try to get what you need, negotiate.
Nobody, out of confidence, will try to protect your needs before their own. If they are doing that, that means they are scared of something about themselves which can be translated as also caring for their own needs.
So maybe having peace with that?
As to being practical and selfless, I tried out a new pattern the other day. A friend of mine (who only messaged me out of his own needs for the last 2 yrs) messaged me and asked for money. I was in dilemma, I was almost accepting and sending help to him. I kept thinking for two days even though I was very very busy. Since I was realizing he hasn’t been asking about me or how I’ve been and asking for stuff and getting those needs met. (not money but other stuff like tutoring) I wasn’t feeling comfortable meeting this need this time. I couldn’t quite say no, I have found excuses. I knew if I said yes, I wouldn’t be feeling like myself. I would be hijacking my own self-something. After all those working till burn out thingy going on in my life, that didn’t sat right.
I felt terrible rejecting him in a vague way. Then, he actually called me to check how I was doing a couple days later. I was so surprised, I actually thought he would hate me after I rejected helping out. Maybe it even helped.
I think I am also scared of being used. And since I work a lot for what I have or trying to have, it’s even harder for me to give away to someone who’s not showing that care to the thing I give away. If you’re not careful for your money or what you have, you sure will not be careful with mine. And me giving away to you, feels like a huge betrayal to my own worth.
So I am not selfless. I just want people to see and respect my “efforts” I think. Effort, or “labour” might be the most sacred thing in my mind right now.
November 17, 2024 at 7:42 am in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #439443ArdenParticipantFighting with myself in my mind, i feel that.
Sorry to keep you busy with this toxic mentality.
November 17, 2024 at 7:41 am in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #439442ArdenParticipantAnd yes, when you told me maybe sth bad happened, I thought differently for one second. My primary opinion on how he doesn’t want to share anything bad and I am there to face it together so all baggage is on me and not on them, has not changed. It’s not correct.
But for one second, my perspective shifted from “victim” to something else. I am looking at this issue from a victim’s perspective, feeling so much bitterness. I have to work on that victim perspective that occurs when something like this happens. I should never think like a victim.
Although I kind of know something bad didn’t happen for her. I would know, he would tell me.
But i feel like if this habit of his, not sharing hardships but also helping out goes on, i don’t know what’s gonna happen. I cannot unsee my feelings, unsee my effort. All this years of effort of mine deserves being prioritized by him. If his sister cannot manage all that money without paying rent and getting help from the family, she could ask for help and get some, but not in this form. She should know better, learn better. All my effort should never finance that sort of lazy behavior.
November 17, 2024 at 7:33 am in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #439441ArdenParticipantAbout the things that can be done, I look at them as doable or not doable, at least for my fave people or closest people. If I can do something, I try to do it. Doesn’t matter how stuck I am, how busy I am or how tired. If it’s doable by me, why let that person suffer or, ask that from somebody else and pay for it? I can do it for free, right? Applies to professional help I give to my relatives, things I did for their jobs to work out.
It’s like, common sense?
But they are not necessarily like that and I tend to realize that, and get bitter, in my mind. No reaction, I just feel bitter. But I keep doing it for some time.
In my husband’s case, I might have evaluated my boundaries wrong also. I can see that being able to evaluate your resources, and how to help family friends, it’s his own responsibility to balance that. If he doesn’t get any help from the family, and the other two siblings are getting LOTS of help from the family and living comfortably with that help offering nothing to my husband, only the basic stuff, like we stayed there for a night, and such. That’s something my husband needs to see and act towards.
I mean I don’t get it really, I paid the rent, two rents at the same time when he didn’t work. I paid all the electricity bills when he was not getting any help from the family, at all. Nobody knew from his family that his own flat was in a bad condition, nobody knew the hardships we endured together.
I had to support him because I could. But now, him helping out the family he got no help from? It really makes me upset. I am questioning everything. Don’t ask for anything, they might be unjust, but at least do not give lots of money to them when you don’t have your own flat or like your own bed, but they do. I feel toxic about thinking all these details, really. I shouldn’t have thought about these. But like, I do. I am trying hard to make my own living, lessen my stress and buy some stuff for our house -finally- after all those times where I couldn’t get any thing. In those times, his siblings were decorating their own houses that my partner couldn’t stay and had to stay on my problematic own house risking me to be sued again.
From looking at this angle, I feel like I shouldn’t have endured all those things.
One thing you made me thought about, telling me that maybe some bad thing have happened to her and he had to help out, I asked especially if something happened. He told me that he just saw the things in the refrigerator in her house and felt bad so sent all those money for her to buy good stuff. This made me think also. I stayed hungry because i had no time to cook for so many evenings. The reason why she had those “bad” stuff, was all about the closest market having those “bad” stuff we also ate since our childhood. It might not be the best quality food around, but that’s what I ate for 15 years. The reason why she got those things was not about money, it’s the closest one and she probably doesn’t want to walk for an extra 5 mins that’s all.
This week his other sibling is selling the family car and upgrading to a new one for his own family. My partner didn’t even have a saying on this issue. Everyone is just thinking about themselves and upgrading their life. I cannot get over the fact that his sibling that he helped out that much, is actually buying so much nice stuff for herself that I postpone buying.
Let alone those nice things, the worst thing that gets me thinking and feel bad, feel resentment, is that she has all those free time after work. I literally have zero free time, it has been like this for 2 years, excessively for the last year.
It’s just hurting me.
I feel bad about keeping you busy about something this toxic. Bad thoughts. Really bad ones, and this is what I’ve been thinking.
November 13, 2024 at 6:59 pm in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #439381ArdenParticipantThe level of support felt through this fast reply explaining how to delete, is un-real.
I am really lucky to have posted here and got a reply from you years back.
November 13, 2024 at 6:57 pm in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #439380ArdenParticipantOne thing that makes me feel safe is that he was living in my old house which i didn’t trust, in terms of earthquakes. Sometimes i was so afraid of something happening suddenly. I was safe, away, non-earthquake zone. But he was still there. Now he’s here. And I don’t have to be afraid anymore.
November 13, 2024 at 6:44 pm in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #439378ArdenParticipantHey. I hope you are amazing, it’s now November, 4 months since we last spoke.
Lots of things have resolved and many other problems have arisen since then. Got some chances to realize marriage is not an easy thing when I had to do my work in a tight schedule, see family, do many compulsory chores in order to complete my bureaucratic things, almost go crazy and calm back down and also at the same time, try to manage the balance between two families. In fact, three in my case, almost as my mom and dad are also married to other people.
I learnt that mom was not happy and in fact suffocating in her marriage, got her into thinking straight when she was talking about leaving the house on her own to work alone start all over again. Such stupidity, with my honestly and not with rude feelings. It’s a stupid thing to do. I told her that she did this to me in the past, leave house and work/stay on your own alone raise two girls. That was painful enough for me to sympathise and try to help during my childhood, I would not be able to handle that today, again, from all the way afar. So doesn’t matter what happens, divorce or not, I was able to persuade her into not leaving the home like that.
Pride, what a toxic thing? What a tricky thing to have! I despise it. I reaaallllly DESPISE pride. And you know what? I don’t believe in pride. It’s not pride. Something else. I have some ideas but haven’t cooked my ideas well yet. Some people, just cannot think straight.
It’s like I get it if you neglect your own self and think of others. Think of your children woman. So irrational, so emotional, so manipulated and also not intentionally manipulative.
During all that, the other family, my partners’ wanted to meet my own. They persisted for months, can see why of course, I get it. They got tickets and got to the city while I was there to quickly handle 2-3 urgent things. So we made a plan and had everything worked out besides some of my health checks I wanted to do but cancelled in order to make them happy.
Which made me unhappy right after.
They should’ve seen how much of a chaos I was in, and they should’ve prioritized my health checks, since I couldn’t do them easily and affordably away where I live. But I chose to make them happy then. Couldn’t see it. I secretly resent them for that.
But also, my partner should’ve communicated that. He couldn’t, he’s not very good in communicating with family. I kind-of understand that.
Remember when I told you about my partner giving a lot of money for her sister to get her a phone? I felt so bad after hearing about this. It happened again when I was not aware. Turns out he, out of the blue, given her one month salary worth money when she was not even asking. When we were talking about money at some point, he must’ve felt guilty and told me. I cried. I tried to tell him that how much of a stress I am going through and doing everything I can to save up, when he did this without asking me. I tried to make him understand how his sister is in very good hands, lives in a family house, no rent, can easily save up. Not like me, at all, and we’re almost same age, she’s older than me. And in this situation, this is heartbreaking. He promised to never do anything like that again. I hope that I haven’t came across as selfish or, i don’t know, bad. It’s a very hard subject.
I can see what is happening. When something is not just, I can see it. I might not fight for it, but seeing and protecting yourself is important. He is not in a just position, within the family I think. Other siblings one way or another use resources of the family. He is all alone, and I was/am/will be there when he is in need. Vice versa. Before them, I was there. Before them, I will be there to worry. It’s what it is.
I cannot, in anyway, accept that he would support other siblings financially. I can accept that the family is not seeing it and he’s all alone. That’s okay, we would be all on our own. That was my whole plan. But I cannot accept him supporting them. I mean, how in the world he does not see that. I don’t know.
Both my rationale and my child-self who was not supported/given money to spend on something trivial for once, by a father or by a older sibling or a older relative, cannot accept it. I burst into tears just thinking about it.
I would kill for an apartment all to me from my family. All to me, no rent, no stress, no landlord to try to get rid of me. That girl who couldn’t find a flat and had to live with others also cannot accept having him support her like that, out of blue. I bet she didn’t even tell the family, how much of a financial support she got from him. She is not a bad person. He should be able to find this balance. somehow.
But I could never hold it in. Now we’re living together, I am still trying so hard for my work, committed to be successful in anyway, seeing hardships as a test, that will someday end and make me proud. Without any religion, I am surprised that I could be this faithful. Continuing to do so, hoping that these types of problems would not shadow my relationship and somehow soon, I would finally relax having accomplished with financial stability.
I might have to find a way to delete or change content within this post after you read it. It’s too much sensitivity that I would be really afraid for someone to find out. Idk.
July 7, 2024 at 6:02 am in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #434757ArdenParticipantI hope you are feeling better and I hope you will get better very soon Anita.
Thank you for your nice words. I will limit, and maybe already limited my communication with her.
Lately I feel like I have outgrown my friends a lot. It’s like, I have no friend or an acquaintance that would be able to understand what I am going through. Not because it’s horrible, i don’t think it’s horrible. I am lucky in a way, compared to many people on this planet. But because they cannot understand, because most of them are stuck in a bubble. I am also stuck in a bubble but I feel like my bubble has grown a bit and got thickened (?).
So I feel like I can ask for help in many areas, but I cannot ask for life advice. However, I give many life advice/relationship advice when I can, to them. Sometimes a flirtatious thing my friend is going through that I am trying to help with my limited time, seems so trivial. I keep seeing the same thing my friend is struggling with and repeating, and cannot help but think how childish is that. How childish is some of the conversations they’re having.
I hope that this is not the bad kind of ego talking here.
When it comes to my perception of life that needs nourishing, I read rarely and it helps. Enlightens me. And I am lucky to write here and get responses from you as well, wanted to express that gratitude, not because it’s good to express, but because it’s really a lucky thing to have. Honestly.
ArdenParticipantI think being best might mean aligning with what you have done and having no problems with that.
Knowing from within what you want, or a type of thing you *might* want (for instance success, or money or a better life) and knowing that maybe today has been a day for a good improvement and being done that, or having done slight bit of improvement, or maybe non because of laziness or an excuse. But knowing you were not able to do what you wanted to do for whatever reason, you can make an effort to make it up for it the next day.
I think being your best includes that. Being true to what you want, trying to achieve it while taking responsibility of your own capabilities and shortcomings. Being true to your mind, sincere to your goals.
July 4, 2024 at 11:47 am in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #434664ArdenParticipantHey Anita, I am well. I hope you have been nice, healthy, and peaceful and continue to be like that.
I remember reading your last answer a couple times since it made all the sense. There has been many new stuff, but mostly, it’s still the same. I hope you are well. I kept my sanity by looking/watching horoscopes actually! Funny. I have been trying to find a solution to my job issue and have been also continuing the bureaucracy about my bf moving in with me and getting a visa, they declined him. Then I had to go back, urgently, and even though it is not possible to arrange everything in 3 days, (it takes months sometimes to find a date), we managed to make the impossible possible and got married in just a few days and I rushed back, to use that for him to come. Still waiting for that to happen (10 months in long distance, i think we’re dealing with it well) In the same time, I am also trying to find new solutions, freelance gigs like i did in the past. Have conversations and contacts that I am trying to feed little by little, giving everyone a piece of effort so it can flourish to be a business deal of some sort. There has been some people/companies that let me down after giving me hope, but that’s alright.
The most tiring thing is the long process and keeping the chin up, I guess. Sometimes I just want to lay down for months but that’s not an option. I am giving my full effort not to look desperate, because that doesn’t help when you are looking for solutions and jobs, trying to look my best for each meetup and meeting. Creating some stuff over the days. All in all, we’re doing out best, separately, sometimes I am encouraging him and sometimes he does that to me. I never hold in when I feel like crying, i feel like if i hide something, that would harm me a lot. So just letting myself flow, of course not with everyone, just with him and on my own.
I have been feeling how far I’ve come, honestly. I can see how my mind is changing, and how fast I am growing. Even though I am on my own and I do feel like I live comfortably, in a lucky flat, that can make me think that I am still lucky but I still struggle and try to keep myself on track, keep on trying. Because I didn’t want to give up just yet. Building a life is not easy.
In all the things that are happening, upsetting me one way or another, business things are not the most hurtful one. I am not taking that personally, at all. It’s like, as if the life is making me do the hard thing. It’s like, I am not able to find a comfy thing. I was expecting to find a stable job, and just keep it simple. But as I see, that’s not possible for me, for now. I am not able to land on something simple and just be, I have to build something in some way. I have to take the highroad and do something on my own, or with partners, maybe. I also applied for a masters degree here and got accepted, that was something out of blue, and i now feel like I have to make it possible to stay here to complete that while working.
so there’s that.
i don’t know how logical for me to see things that way, not sure. I might be acting a bit delusional when it comes to seeing all those rejections and bad luck-sort of, as a re-direction for me. I would like to be working for someone else’s company, brand. But that’s not happening, even though I am offering everything they need, for some reason that is not happening at all. lol. so just trying to see things from a different perspective.
and aside from all the things, i have been thinking about friends as well. I have been realizing some shifts in my friendships, and some of the people i cared for, helped in my old life, are not being nice with me because i stopped caring for them without being asked. It’s like, since I stopped doing what I did, they thought I was being distant. But maybe I didn’t have time and the energy, so why not care for me this time instead of focusing on yourself?
Also have been thinking about specific people, and trying to figure out what’s happening. But that’s not a good thing for me to keep my mind busy about, but it just happens. If I were to find out, maybe I would stop. But it’s the doubt that keeps me going. For instance, a friend that has been giving me some mixed signals within the texts, confuses me. She asked me months and months back, “What is holding you there? Why not quit? Why do you stand there and hold all the stress, and keep trying? Is it really worth it?” Then I couldn’t really process and told her that this is not something we can know for sure and we just have to keep trying or keep waiting to find out. She didn’t like my answer, and thought I was being distant. But I really didn’t like her question then. It wasn’t a question I liked to talk about, i was in a hard position and all I need was positivity. Not someone that would tell me all the negative stuff I would already calculated in my mind. I wouldn’t want that from a friend.
I have faced that and got a response that those were not written in bad intentions at all. Then replied with what that made me feel. She even told me that I was being touchy, because maybe I was distant from everyone else and alone. When I am not happy with some comment I got, and when a friend is not being careful with me when I need the care the most, especially when I did that for them in the past, the fact that she told me that “maybe I am misunderstanding because I am alone” was not for me. Instead of taking accountability, she blamed me for being touchy.
All in all, we got it resolved, or that’s what I thought.
I still feel like she has those feelings that I cannot quite understand. I don’t like when people see living abroad as a very big privilege. It’s actually not, and I have known that before, guessed that, listened stories about that. So when I came here, I didn’t have pink dreams. I knew that things would be hard. And when people have that type of mind, ideas when talking with me, I try to give them a real point of view. Maybe I’ve done that too many times and some friends thought I was miserable? I don’t know. I would rather be sincere and not fake anything. But then I tried to express positive stuff too. It’s like she is ignoring or even not looking at what I express, in a positive way. Not knowing intentions, makes you confused. I think I really care what she thinks but cannot figure out what’s happening, that’s all. If I had a clue on she might be jealous or something, that would’ve been relaxing me but that’s also not the case. I don’t think she is kind of person to be jealous.
stuff like that, i catch myself not seeing things clearly here, so it’s been making my mind busy on some level.
February 24, 2024 at 9:02 am in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #428125ArdenParticipantIt seems like you also live close to the north pole, a bit. But not sure. I hope you have had a nice Jan and February. I appreciate your responds a lot, thank you for your understanding and companionship.
Yes, I have been realizing more and more how others are able to ASK, without guilt, or shame. I try to make sure I am not stepping on anyone, upsetting anyone or using my credits within people. I learned to think that I have a limited amount of credit in people and always tried to act upon that so that I wouldn’t lose anyone outside of my control. It’s even like “use your resources cautiously so that you would have them when you most need it” type of mentality. I do that with people, money, everything. The only thing I do not act accordingly with this mentality is myself and my own resources, my attention, my emotions and so on.
However, seeing that how others can carelessly ask for stuff, trivial or important stuff, they do not care about the credit they have within people. They just ask, act, live. Some of them do that in a spoiled way and that has driven me crazy as you saw in my previous posts.
I also always acted with a passive thought in my mind that is “resource can be limited, be careful“. Therefore, when I do have access to resources, money or any food/stuff I am buying for the house, I always think with a “you might not be able to find this thing again, or in this price, so act accordingly, with caution.” Even years before we had this global crisis and war, I had my mind on stocking stuff within my financial power that time in my house so that I would be safe, for another 2 months maybe.
This is something I am realizing clearly now. I am in a country with less inflation, so stocking stuff doesn’t seem too rational to me and I might also need the money regarding the job situations. So when I stop myself from buying that extra detergent, I realize my old habits of seeing resources and money. How that has affected me in every possible way. My mind practically had a war and a global crisis at all times.
Also the friend of me here, which was the reason I posted this specific post has randomly tried to give me a toothpaste when I was visiting. She founded the tube in her bag, instead of taking it to the bathroom, she offered it to me. I kindly rejected, said “oh why would you, put it there and use it, I also have it and can purchase an-nytime.”, then she commented on that saying “you never accept things easily, just accept it for god’s sake” and went to the bathroom to put it there instead.
I already knew that feature of mine, but it got me thinking even more. Instead of instantly rejecting a random thing that was offered to me, why my first instinct is not accepting? Those people that I have resented for being spoiled, and some of them I still do have those types of feelings towards, their first instinct would have been to accept it. Either it is money, products, anything.
Thank you for rationalizing or better yet, appreciating/accepting my feelings in the previous post.
It feels like I am even more closer to my own-self here far away from practically everyone else that has a big space in my mind till today, and my own-self actually feels like the moments of my passions and good feelings I had in my childhood on my own. Those little moments that I was in my head, living the moment on my own. Those feel like the moments that I was my authentic self the most.
I would wish that we could have came here together at the same time with my partner as I wouldn’t worry about finances or anything else this much, but as a result of my solitude here for months (already 5 months here alone, it’s crazy how time passes), I am observing myself and my past a lot. And I can really feel how these job crises and other emotional hardships of moving here alone has contributed to my confidence, I can feel the slight changes each day and how it actually feels to actually build a life with small steps. The only problem we have with my partner is slight jealousy stuff that don’t get bigger (and i was the one being jealous), financials since i don’t feel safe and he doesn’t have a job at the moment and still applies, and he gets depressive when he gets rejected by each job. I sometimes get a bit afraid if I am investing my financials and health into him in the right way.
I try to save up more for any type of expenses that might arise from the fact that we still haven’t evacuated the flat with the lawsuit and have paid for many stuff in the past 5 months, he also paid as well but maybe not as much as I did? I sometimes stop and think if I did good or not. Can I trust him that way, would he put the same effort as myself and work, earn and actually make me feel better about all the stuff we have faced. It’s like, I am putting myself at risk but with intentions that he would be worth doing that. So far, I don’t think he would use me. But I guess I have a built in fear about being used. He doesn’t have that, so I tried to explain my anxiety on financials. He made his applications even more aggressively afterwards and tried to report me in some way how he’s also trying. He understood and maybe found himself in the wrong and trying better. These types of thoughts make me feel stingy, or weird, but all I am trying to do is to make sure that I am not being used. I start having expectations of him earning more than me once he comes (hence the skills he has) and therefore I can feel more secure in the long run.
January 13, 2024 at 3:16 am in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #426930ArdenParticipantHow quickly the time passes, I have read, found comfort in your reply and then waited till I can reply with more calm, then it’s already almost 3 weeks. Thank you for the support Anita! How are you?
December 23, 2023 at 5:37 am in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #426317ArdenParticipantwhosh huh what did I just do there, it feels like I’ve just poured 20 years of wound. It was painful to write, and think but I somehow feel more relief. Still surprised that all those came out after one sentence from my BF. It was just a funny memory to him. I cried for more than an hour writing those, feels very weird. I cried about stuff that has happened 15 years ago, 3,033 kms away. How much distance does that make? Looked up the kilometers btw.
December 23, 2023 at 5:22 am in reply to: The phenomenon of “helping someone excessively can make them turn against you” #426316ArdenParticipantIn the last paragraph,
“I didn’t want to ask from him in a bad way, so I just said to myself, one more month of rent, one more, one more till I feel insecure.”
I meant I postponed thinking about this and continue paying till I feel insecure financially. Since it’s from my bank, it was just paid automatically and I didn’t want to calculate anything towards him.
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