Lostcloud – It is so strange that I should have happened upon your post this evening given what I was searching for.

I had the near-on exact same experience to you. Reading your story was like reading my own, give or take a few differences. So many things resonate and reading it has helped make more sense of my own story in a way that trying to understand my own hasn’t, for which I thank you.

So, in return, if it’s any help to you, here’s my two penny’s worth (which is also a pep talk to myself!):

Find strategies to stop your thoughts turning to him – and in turn bringing all your emotions up. It’s for him to figure out why he is the way he is, and for his current gf to find out herself that he’s a no good piece of crap. None of that serves you or helps you move on.

Believe me, I know it’s easier said than done. You have been wronged and hurt on a big scale and it’s difficult to move past that when your thoughts and emotions keep taking you back there, raking through the past and planting imaginary conversations and stories in your head.  I have said and felt the same things as you about my ex and his current gf (now wife! – whom I know he cheated on because there’s online evidence) and I’ve been trying to get him out of my head for more than a year now. And I feel like I’m finally making headway! I noticed how many times my thoughts take me back to him and it is literally 100s of times a day. Not of wanting him back (though even now there is still a tiny emotional pull that hopes he has finally realised that I am THE one) but reassessing what happened, imagining scenarios where we bump into each other, imagining how he’s now cheating on his wife – or how he’s not and maybe he’s finally changed his ways (and the emotional trauma of ‘why couldn’t he have figured that out for me’). When I notice this, I drown it out with one thought, repeated again and again until it stops. Mine is ‘I love myself’ – something else that I’ve figured out that I need learn to do following this whole episode.

Be prepared for him to keep trying to reenter your life – and have strategies that keep you strong so that you don’t cave because, your emotions will want you to and if he calls you in a weak moment then you’ll spend another few months getting back to where you are now. Last year my ex contacted me and asked if I wanted him back, in the next breath he told me he was getting married. Classic manipulative behaviour, trying to see if he could still pull me in. And tonight, the reason I came upon your story, he called me out of the blue for the first time in 6 months. I didn’t answer but still he is able to kick start my anxiety. I don’t want to spend the whole weekend wondering ‘what does he want’ and playing all the possible scenarios out in my mind. So I was looking on TinyBuddha for tools or advice that would help me delve into the anxiety and deal with it once and for all.

As others have said, use this as an opportunity to look into yourself. I’ve been seeing a counsellor for sometime now and I’m discovering so many things about myself that have provided a lot of insight into why I stayed in such an emotionally abusive relationship for so long and allowed someone to treat me so badly. I hate to say it, but yes, some of it does stem from my childhood and I also had a very happy and secure upbringing. It has also helped me by showing me that my ex was a symptom of that, which helps push back the importance or impact of him on my life, if that makes sense (?) I can’t think of a better way to describe it just now.  Counselling has also highlighted my lack of self-esteem and self-love, which was compounded by my experience with my ex. By building my self-esteem and self-love, I’m starting to put clear boundaries in place that will make sure no-one is ever able to treat me like he did again.

You are not stupid. As others have said, emotions lead us into situations we would never normally have dreamed we’d accept, especially when our emotions are manipulated. My ex had two children with two different women while we were ‘on breaks’, one of whom he was seeing behind my back for quite some time. Of course, I didn’t find out about them until later, but when I did, I still stayed (can you believe!!). Yeah, I haven’t quite managed to stop feeling like a prize idiot on that one yet but I am starting to forgive myself. After all, as I’m now learning, I didn’t really have the tools, self-esteem or emotional strength to see it for what it was at the time. And even if (and I know this having gone back many many times), this isn’t the last time you walk away from ‘Dan’, don’t beat yourself up too much. Sometimes life just keeps banging you on the head harder and harder until you take notice or have the strength to.

Anyway, sorry, that’s a little longer than I intended. Thank you. This has been really cathartic for me. I hope it’s useful in some way for you. While you never wish the same pain you have felt on others, it is always reassuring you aren’t alone.

LBx