fbpx
Menu

I don't know what to do with myself

HomeForumsRelationshipsI don't know what to do with myself

New Reply
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 28 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #206327
    Ik09
    Participant

    I wrote a long account because I did not find a person whom I could say everything to. Please help me!

     

    I have been in brief long distance relationships before but I never felt so strongly as I did when I met my ex four years ago… when I confessed and he confessed back, I felt this was meant to be because we were both in love with each other at the same time and it felt like fate- the way we met belonging to very far apart states and although we were both in our final years of college, our subjects were very different and colleges were in the states we lived- Far Apart. It was a long distance relationship and although we met once a year and if our savings allowed it then twice a year but it was a very happy relationship. we were figuring out what to do when I decided to move back home due to a bad health condition and we had talked about staying in the same city many times but it had never happened. A month after I shifted back to my home, physically ill and a little depressed due to my writer’s block as well as career ambiguity, he got a job offer in the city I was living in when I met him, it was far away from his home and it was the first time he was living so far apart from his mother. This was last year, he asked me to come back and due to my health, I could not. I did go to visit him and stayed with him but not more than a week. I was very weak, and he understood. I went back home and he started teasing me trying to make me jealous telling me that he was hanging out with a bunch of other girls and since he was done this so many times in the past and when I did not get jealous, he used to complain that I let it go.

    the first time I was shocked at his behaviour was when he asked me to write a poem about a beautiful smile, I wrote and sent it to him asking him why did he want a poem and he said he has asked a girl out on a date, a girl who he met at a conference at work. she was leaving town the next day. I was hurt but I did not say anything then, I thought he will come back without any success since I know how shy he is. I was right. He did come back saying how she did not like him as he was sitting there like a fool unable to say anything constructive. I asked him if anything happened and he said no she did not let me drop her back. Shocked at all levels, I did not say anything then. A few days later when he said how he texts her and she does not respond well, he asked me to decode her texts and it was too much for me to take… I told him how he was behaving and how hurt that made me feel. I also said that if you have to go hit on other girls, I will set him free. He was sorry and apologized and then he never ever talked about her again, I did ask him about her a few months later and he said he stopped talking to her, she was not interested it was evident on the date itself. He took a trip with his office colleagues, two girls but I knew that they were not the kind to indulge with him, once he got drunk at an office party and slept in the room of a foreign delegate who gave him the bed and slept on the couch. This was all relayed by him to me, and since he told me everything all the time, I never had any reasons to suspect him.

    He went home for an extended weekend and although he was hesitant to tell me this first, he could not on the call and so texted me that he kissed an old friend when he was drunk, she was committed to another guy and so both of them decided to never talk again. I somehow had an intuition of this, he had called me when he was going to meet her and he was talking in the usual loving manner and nothing about the conversation said that something like that could happen but then I still had a feeling a few hours later that something was up but I thought not to get ahead of myself and waited for his call and he did not call, I called him the next day acting like nothing had happened, it was a brief call and then later in the evening, when I called again i asked him the reason of his rigidity and he said nothing, he was busy. A Few minutes later he texted me everything and how guilty he was about it. He said it was a little brush and he did not mean it. I let it go and forgave him, thinking that his guilt will stop him from doing anything like this again.

    He was alright after that, for a few days he behaved as if he was very sad but thereafter, he became his usual self. He had an important conference after that so he was extremely busy, but he forgot my birthday. He would always remind me about it for days and forget wishing on my birthday itself. this had happened last year as well. I don’t want to sound immature and complaining but He never did anything special for my birthday when I sent gifts, video compilations of all his friends, and even flew down to see him once for his birthday.

    After his conference was over, I complained how little time I was being given and he said he would work on it and it was fine after that. Amidst all this, I overcame my depression, decided what I wanted to do in life and started a distance education programme specialising in the field.

    At the start of this year, I first lost my pet, then my grandma- I was very close to her and he was there listening to me every day, comforting me.  He had lost his father and then his grandparents all in a row and understood loss and was internally strong.  nearly twenty days later, I went to see him, there was also the pretext of the wedding of a cousin but I would not have gone if he was not there in the city. I stayed with him, and all his friends told me how much he talks about me, he told everyone about me and how good and talented I was. I felt happy because although I have heard this in the past, this was a new city and these were a new set of friends, and he still chose to tell everyone about me. My sister met him and she said he loved me very much and he is very serious regarding you.

    After nearly ten days of coming back home, He said in a text how he imagined his future with me. He said he would need some time to be financially stable but then he wants to be with me. I felt like the happiest girl ever.

    After nearly five days after that, he was not very prompt with texts although he called every day. One day he said he did not feel like talking and I said good night and did not pressure him to talk. for next four-five days, he would call and say that he felt sleepy and said good night and slept.

    I texted him after I was upset that I have a strong feeling that something is bothering him and he did not respond to the text, said he was busy and he will call in the evening.

    he was very loving when he called and then he asked if I was free, I was doing some chores so I said give me 20 mins, he waited patiently then I texted if he slept already and he said no he was waiting for my call. Happy that he was back to his old self I called and he talked politely and then went on to say how unsure he is about his career and that he thinks its best if we split now, he said again and again if I don’t do it today I will never be able to do it and we will always be unhappy. I told him that if I don’t say it that second maybe I will never have the chance to say it ever again – I love you and he said I love you too and broke into tears but I still don’t know till date if he just said it out of habit. He told me that this is not because of any girl and that the only girl he can ever marry is me and that the day he feels he is financially stable, he will come for me.  I thought maybe he needs some time on his own to think things through so I left it at that.

    Three days later, my closest friends started telling me to call him again and talk things through. They said that they felt he was depressed regarding his career. Most of them were sure he will come back soon.

    I called him and although he was polite, he tried to be stern and stone cold in terms of feelings. I asked him again the real reasons and he said that that was the reason, he said he felt that he was being rude to me whenever he was working and that he feels that he cannot take care of my emotional needs. He said he felt like I was an emotional baggage and if I had waited for a week perhaps he would have come back but the fact that I could not even stay away for three days makes him think he made the right decision. I was hurt, I told him I called him because my friends asked me to check on him if he was alright. I then blamed myself for everything and at this point he hung up on me. He texted later that he was sorry that he hung up but he could not take it.

    I stopped all contact, A month later I emailed him that I felt he made the right decision because the breakup made me get out of my writer’s block and I was offered a job as a content writer which I took. I also told him I was sorry for any harsh words from my side and that I forgave him and said that I apologize and I hope that in time he would do the same.

    he replied nearly four days later saying that I am happy that you wrote to me, I am glad that you realized our weaknesses and are working on yours. I am trying hard to work on mine, All the best and have a happy life ahead. I thank you for the email.

    after that, I talked to him about texts once regarding a website which we worked for together earlier and

    on texts again about hotel discounts, which was linked to his email id.

    He replied to me on all occasions but never texted on his own.

    Its been a month and a half and I did not receive any phone calls or texts from him.

    I have gone through break ups with men i was infatuated with and they all called and texted me even after break up, even if they chose to love another over me and I was fine with talking to them as it took away the grief.

    there has not been a day that i have not been reminded of him by either my friends, or some mail or pictures online.

    Our mutual friends call me to tell me about him, they used to actually, they said he rarely hangs out now, turns down outings, and when he does come, he does not speak much, is always angry about his work. I told them not to tell me about him because i want to focus on myself and move on so they don’t tell me stuff anymore.

    But I am not able to move on, especially because I dream about him every day, I wake up feeling awful then I work on being better and then again as soon as I am not busy. The question that why could he not call or text even once bothers me so much that it is hard to sleep well… I know all I cared about was his health and success and still pray for that but and it does not bother me so much that he broke up as this does that his not talking to me even once makes me feel as if I did something wrong.

     

    Not able to move on, although trying with all my might. I have been there for all my friends listening to them from night till morning, but when I am sad, I find them all listening to me once and saying move on, nobody gives me any perspective. actually, I have four friends, three of them are men and they say he will come back and that’s that. and the girl says that I should move on and be happy that it is over so that I can focus on the better things to come. I really want to take her advice and but ever since I went into a relationship with him, I find that I find no man attractive. I often told him that it’s not as if you are Mr World or something but still my eyes only see you and heart wants only you. I don’t want to live under any false hopes but I don’t know why I am not moving on. Why isn’t time healing me as they all say!!!

     

    #206481
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear IpkR09:

    While in a long distance relationship with you, he asked you to write a poem about a beautiful smile. You did as he asked. When you asked why he wanted this poem he told you that needed it so to pursue another woman.

    This is cruel behavior on his part, don’t you think?

    Your response: “I was hurt but I did not say anything then… Shocked at all levels, I did not say anything then”.

    I would like to understand better, therefore I ask: why didn’t you say anything?

    anita

     

    #206493
    Ik09
    Participant

    I always have had the fear of being left alone all my life… It originated long back due to some family members, friends and later love interests leaving me behind.

    When i met him, I was cautious not to fall very deep in love, obviously i could not control that but still I had my doubts…

    After three months of being together, He confronted me and told me that he will not leave. After that at various occasions….  numerous occasions should be the correct term he told me that again and again, even when i was not afraid anymore.

    Yes it was cruel of him, but this relationship was his first relationship (He is a single mother child and he told me he always felt that she is his responsibility so he wanted to focus on providing her a good life but he said that when we met, he just fell for me) and somehow I felt that maybe if he goes out with someone else he will realise that what we have is far more precious and he would not do so again.

    I feel so stupid right now.

    I stopped myself from asking him not to talk to anybody else because i felt i might fall in the same category of women men run away from….clingy and possessive. and also even though i don’t want to admit it but because i felt if i constrict him, he might leave.

    you know the funny thing was that he told me he isn’t leaving even when i recently visited him.

    I was a smart girl, but when it comes to him I have been really dense!!!

    #206503
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear IpkR09:

    As to him, you wrote: “he told me he always felt that she is his responsibility so he wanted to focus on providing her a good life but he said that when we met, he just fell for me”. Reads to me that he is angry at this mother, that he is conflicted: wanting to be free of that responsibility to her but feeling guilty to set himself free. I think that it is this anger and conflict that motivated him to act so callously with you.

    As to you, reads to me that you are not “really dense” as in lack of intelligence, but dense with fear. Fear is a very powerful emotion. You were afraid to get hurt, to be left alone by him. Such a fear does not go away easily, if it goes away at all.

    For the purpose of keeping a man in a relationship with you, for this very purpose, better choose a man who is not likely to leave, who is not conflicted and troubled like this man, and better be honest and assertive with the man.

    I hope you post again with your thoughts and feelings.

    anita

     

     

    #206539
    Ik09
    Participant

    I feel you are right because he used to complain a lot about his mother saying that she calls him too much and was worried that soon she will be retiring from her job and then will all her focus which was 70% till now will be on him. Personally I liked his mum mostly because I admired her to have single-handedly raised a polite, intelligent, understanding man who respects women a lot but I feel I judged him too soon, he was never so far apart from her that he could take care of himself on his own, the moment one gets away from home, they develop their own personality, the loneliness, the daily struggles, a new job, a lot shapes us and makes us a different person. I think he needs time to know who really is and as for his mother, I will pray that he realises what she gave up on to have a life focused on him. She could have remarried, have had a life of her own but she did not.

    maturity is what we both need.

    You are right about me too Anita and this is why I have decided not to date or love again till I am sure I love myself enough to not be afraid of being alone. This is something which might have scared him too as he used to say this a lot – I cannot begin to think what you would go through if something happens to me like my dad.

    I have started more time with myself, I have made some BIG plans for myself. I have been writing since I was seven years old and I have written many stories, but i never shared them with anyone. It wasn’t until my ex came to my life that he encouraged me to send them to magazines and writing contests. And boosted my confidence to the point that i decided to write a novel, a storty which has been with me since I was in high school and i started working on it last year itself. But due to my fear of Ends, I was not able to think of how to proceed with the end. I don’t know how but soon after he left, i got the idea of how to end it. And not just that, I got ideas for two more novels in the same series. Apart from that I have always wanted to travel, and I have decided to save up to go on a solo trip. Already mentioned that on Happi’s post hehe…. I felt so good to talk to someone about this.

     

    I don’t know how long I will love him, It is exhausting. This keeps the hope alive that he might call one day, he might text one day, tell me that he has figured things on his end and he wants to eat with me. I don’t want anything romantic with him nor am i willing to take him back right now, I just don’t want to feel this hope. He might meet me one day, he might not. I want to be the person I always been- helpful, kind, confident. I want to give hope to the world through educating young minds.

    Thank You Anita for your words, they have enlightened me and also. I wish to get over this sinking feeling fast, it is taking a toll on my sleep and in turn my health but I am making efforts. Let’s see how long it will be!!

    #206597
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear IpkR09:

    I re-read and thoroughly  studied your three posts on this thread. First, regarding your health. I wonder about the nature of your health condition and hope it can be much improved if not completely healed.

    Regarding the relationship with this man:

    You wrote, “I stopped myself from asking him not to talk to anybody else because I felt I might fall in the same category of women men run away from… clingy and possessive”. I believe this is exactly what  happened and it is the reason he broke up with you: you fell into the same category of his mother.

    His mother is and has been clingy and possessive of him.

    He told you that “he felt that he was being rude to me whenever he was working and that he feels that he cannot take care of my emotional needs… felt like I was an emotional baggage”. He told you that the fact that you “could not even stay away (from him) for three days makes him think he made the right decision (to end the relationship)” And he told you “he could not take it”.

    He projected his mother into you, seeing his mother in you. He saw you clinging to him, possessive of him, wanting 100% of his time and his life. He felt suffocated.

    You wrote: “he used to complain a lot about his mother saying she calls him too much and was worried that soon she will be retiring from her job nd then will all her focus which was 70% till now will be on him”.

    You wrote that you are troubled by the lack of communication with him, that there has been no communication at all for the last month and a half. It “makes me feel as if I did something wrong”.

    It is my understanding that it is not you who did something wrong. It is his mother who did something wrong: clinging to him, focusing on him too much (but not seeing that he is hurt and that she is hurting him!), making him her world, instilling in him the belief that he is responsible for how she feels, that it is his job to make her smile and it is his fault every time she doesn’t smile.

    This false responsibility, the guilt involved, the torment, this is what he “could not take”.

    anita

    #206625
    Ik09
    Participant

    I am better now, I had an extremely low level of hemoglobin which my parents were determined that only right food can take care of. After 6 months of coming back home, when they realized that I am still not getting better then we consulted a doctor. It was then they realized how serious things were and I might die. Iron was injected into my body at monthly intervals and now I feel better in fact ever since February this year I feel energetic and attentive unlike before.

    Yes, I do think I did the same thing. I feel like the pressure of his job, me, his mother, everything was too much to handle. But I have spent a month in guilt, thinking how I pressured the guy I loved with all of me away and that was not helping me in moving on. At first I did not want to accept the breakup, I thought he would come back(We used to break up in initial days to get back together within 20 mins to an hour- there has been only once when we spent one complete night and morning not talking, In the afternoon he called and said that let’s stop the dramatics, we both know we cannot stay away and we would end up laughing at things we said) We have spent some really good times together and when I used to go visit him, he used to be like this crazy carefree kid around me.

    I really think he needs some time on his own but the fact that he did not call even once makes me feel bad about myself. Even the men who left for various reasons like career and other women used to text me when they needed a friend. I try to think that it does not bother me if he is dating other women and I even think what if we meet somewhere and he is with a girl, and I feel that seeing him happy would give my heart some peace but the fact that I am in a different city altogether and He does not wish to talk to me, unless there is some need to- is breaking my self-esteem. Every day I wake up thinking today will be better, at least better than yesterday but no, It never becomes better. Every night I feel like calling him, asking him how he is, but my pride or ego, I give you the liberty to use either, makes me switch off my phone to avoid the anticipation.

    He used to take my help in his work and he made me feel like his superhero.  I had started a little nagging when suddenly he did not want to pursue his MBA (something he had planned ever since in college), started drinking more than usual(I was scared he might get into the habit) and when I wanted him to manage his expenses better… I did not complain about the money I spent on his meals, I do that for my friends too but recently before I left my city to meet him the last time- I lent him a little larger sum than usual and told him specifically it is my savings for my sister’s wedding gift. He said he is very thankful and he would return it soon. My sister is getting married in July and we are not on talking terms for a month and half. I feel it will be so rude if I ask for it and asking for it would mean I have to talk to him. Knowing him, he will try to return everything at once even if it meant skipping meals for days.

    Why I am thinking so much!!!!! I honestly don’t want to care about him the same way he doesn’t care about me anymore but I don’t know how to gauge my thought process. Being busy does not help. It is just that I had always pictured him to be so strong that ever since I met him, I always thought of him as my life partner. And now I feel like not talking to men for as long as I can avoid it.

    Sorry for doing this, again and again, my brain goes on in a loop and I keep writing it all down.

    Thank you, Anita, for being so patient with me and reading everything I have to say! I really cannot thank you enough!

    #206631
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear IpkR09:

    You are welcome. I am glad you are feeling better and it reads like the condition is curable, or was as all you needed was to correct your hemoglobin levels.

    How much/ how often did you give him money, did he return any of it to you and why is it that he needed money. I thought he has a job, why did he need your money?

    anita

    #206633
    Ik09
    Participant

    He has a job and he invested most of it in mutual funds, when he shifted to the new city, he used some large sum of money on food and lodging, I mean he could have spent less but this was a difficult topic to talk to him about.

    some months i ordered food three-to-four times a month, while other months once a month.

    I don’t have an exact amount I have lent him all through last year but I remember vaguely lending him 3k on one occasion and 5k on another.  This year onwards I lent him 6k online and gave him 2k in person.

    He said he would return it and he used to try paying for my expenses whenever I came to visit him but not the entire amount.

    #206639
    Ik09
    Participant

    the large sum of money I mentioned in the start was from what he borrowed from his mother’s account and he did not tell her where he spent it because he also spent it on drinking which she detests. To cover that, he lied he invested it so he paid interest on that too in her account, his mutual funds and rest on his lodging and food. He did not ask for money unless it was a really bad situation, mostly he would ask me if I could order him some food. He used to ask me to order something cheap so that he can pay it back easily.

    #206641
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear IpkR09:

    At his time of financial need, do you know if his mother helped him, if he asked her for money, if he accepted money from her?

    anita

    #206643
    Ik09
    Participant

    He asked her for money when he moved to the city so that until his first salary, he has some money to eat. I had already arranged his stay with my friend so he did not pay for first two months.

    He always said that I was more endowed because I could do whatever I want(Career) when he has to think about the costs and his mother. He was specially tensed since she would be retiring this November.

    As far as I know, He did not ask her for any more money again, He went home once so she gave him around 15k to take a flat but he spent it on food and lived in a hostel which costed him more but was more comfortable to him after a tiring day at work

    #206649
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear IpkR09:

    I am trying to understand better, therefore I ask:

    Has he been comfortable all along, receiving money from you and from his mother, and he has not been in any rush to return the money to you?

    You mentioned earlier that he complained a lot about his mother, can you elaborate on his complaints?

    anita

    #206691
    Ik09
    Participant

    His first complaint regarding her was always that she does not give him enough space and freedom. Every time we used to talk he had to go out of his home because his mother tried to listen to our conversation. He was 22 by the time he finished his college and since his college was in the same city, he did not opt for the hostel. And very often he would complain that I am a 22-year-old who cannot shut the door of his own room because his mother does not want him to.

    I used to go home only in the holidays as my university and my home-town were in different states. So he used to say that I am lucky that I don’t have to explain the reason I want to go out with my friends, to eat, to go explore someplace.

    Apart from that, he used to complain how she counted each penny whenever she used to give him money to buy anything. He said I am her own child, why can’t she trust me that I will not spend the money if I have not asked for it. He really hated reporting back to her after he used any money. I remember during his college days, Most mornings he would call me and ask me to change his mood because he was angry that she did not give him enough money for fuel and lunch so he would have to share with friends.

    My mum is the same way, I guess most mums are, there are still living in the era when they were young when it comes to prices of things. But thankfully my father took over whenever I needed money during college.

    He deleted our conversations on Whatsapp every day because his mum used to check his phone when he was asleep. And that is how she got to know that he was dating me, He slept midway our conversation once and of course, could not delete the texts, She read them all and asked him about me the next day.

    Every time I have heard him speak to her on call, I have always heard him either shouting or saying that I am good, I ate, I am healthy, I will call later. Unless she needed his help with her net banking or something, he was not patient with her on calls. I used to always tell him that do you hug your mum or do you make her feel loved and he used to say she is my mum, we don’t do hugs and gestures.

    Being comfortable with receiving money, no he never was. He used to tell me in college that I will make it a point that once I have enough I either take your parents around the world or buy them a car or something. He felt guilty and sometimes booked me movie tickets even when I did not want them, for my siblings too along with me. He bought me earrings and a dress but that was out of his savings before he started earning. after starting his job, he used to say I will return and he did use to pay for food and other expenses when I used to visit him but he was never in a rush, especially because in the start I used to say that its okay, you don’t need to return it immediately, return it when you have money. With time I stopped saying this line, and He used to say that he feels like the girl in the relationship because I take care of him lot more.

     

    The day he broke up, he also talked about something he never spoke about all the time we were together, he told me his mum used to earn more than his father and they used to fight a lot and his family used to dislike her because of that. That is why he said that only if he earned well, he would come back for me, otherwise no.

     

     

    #206705
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear IpkR09:

    I am tired and would like to re-read and reply to your recent post tomorrow morning, in about sixteen hours from now.

    For now, I am curious, and maybe you can answer me before I return to the computer:

    You wrote earlier that you like his mother. Does it mean that you approve of her disrespect of her son’s privacy, not allowing him the space that a human being needs so to be mentally healthy?

    You encouraged your ex boyfriend to hug his mother, to make her feel loved, you wrote-

    isn’t it the job of the parent to make the child feel loved, not the other way around?

    anita

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 28 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Please log in OR register.