Home→Forums→Relationships→I'm having a difficult time of letting go of my feelings for my best friend
- This topic has 56 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 5 months ago by Anonymous.
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June 29, 2017 at 9:06 am #155554CloudParticipant
Sorry for the misspelling, wish you can edit your posts on here.
June 29, 2017 at 9:33 am #155558AnonymousGuestDear Cloud:
You referred to yourself as demisexual ( a person who does not experience sexual attraction unless they form a strong emotional connection with someone), asexual (a person who has no sexual feelings or desires), and homoromantic (inclined to have a romantic relationship or fall in love with an individual of the same gender). You are thirty, a virgin and okay with not having a sexual relationship ever in your future. You want to for a friendship with a woman, and then if it is a loving friendship, then maybe it will proceed, over time, to be physical/ sexual but the woman involved with you will have to be very gentle and patient with you.
I think I understand this part. You repeatedly wrote about your ex friend that she took advantage of you. She looked for your attention while you wanted her love. I wonder: how did she take advantage of you… what did she promise that she didn’t deliver. (You might have answered this in a previous post and I missed it?)
anita
June 29, 2017 at 10:31 am #155562CloudParticipantWhen I told my ex best friend my feelings for her the day before our high school graduation. I also came out to her as bisexual (I was very unsure of my sexuality at that time of my life). She took in what i’ve told her, shocked and unexpected. Her only response was to give me her listening ear and just had nothing to say.
I began to notice her treating me differently than she did to our other friends. As in being flirtatious and teasing which caused me to wonder why her actions changed. I also noticed she was jealous of others who were close to me, men and women. She’ll never talk to me about this when I address this to her. She kept quiet or just refused to give me a straight answer. She also was physically close to me, never respected my personal space.
My ex also would want me to tag along with her to any event or gathering with her but will treat me like I was never there. She’ll reject my inventions and only spend time with me when it is her own convenient. She would rather do things what SHE wanted to do. If it doesnt benefit her then she’ll pass it and do whatever she likes.
When she is in need of a friend I was there for her but whenever I needed her she wasn’t there for me. Basically she was selfish and a narcissist. It was narcissistic abuse, emotional abuse and love to take control over me. She loved to be physical to me as in play fight with me to get me to do what she wanted me to do. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was into BDSM. She’s asexual.
June 29, 2017 at 10:52 am #155576AnonymousGuestDear Cloud:
By the way, Wikipedia has a very long entry on Asexual, which led me to google The Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), reads very informative to me. Regarding your ex friend: she was selfish, not caring for your well-being, not being honest with you; disrespected your need for physical space, flirted with you when that was not your interest.
Back to AVEN, it reads there under “Relationships”: “Some asexual people are happier on their own… Other asexual people have a desire to form more intimate romantic relationships, and will date and seek long-term partnerships… Sexual or nonsexual, all relationships are made up of the same basic stuff. Communication, closeness, fun, humor, excitement and trust all happen just as much in sexual relationships as in nonsexual ones.”-
The above mentions the important of Trust and (honest) Communication- these have been missing or inadequate in your relationship with your ex friend. And seems like these are present in your so far long distance communication with your new friend.
anita
June 29, 2017 at 12:07 pm #155618CloudParticipantI have visited AVEN 4 years go, it was the site that helped me understand my sexuality. And I made a online friend on that site. We still online friends.
My current friend is who I call my close best friend. She means alot to me, it’s been a struggle everyday that I want to actually see her in person. I’m bored of texting and there are times we haven’t much to say to each other cause well we have talked daily last year and this year as well. Now its been less but thats ok cause we do have our own separate lives. She will always be in my heart, i do need to live my life here and seek friendships. I dont have a high paying job but i work very hard to save money so i can travel other places and maybe go to local events but as of now i just been working and cant stop thinking about my new friend.
June 29, 2017 at 10:25 pm #155730CloudParticipantI wake up to check my phone, text messages and social media to see what she is up to. I worry about her and wonder what is going on in her life. I can not stand the distance, I can never do a long distance relationship. it is what it is
June 30, 2017 at 5:20 am #155748AnonymousGuestDear Cloud:
You grew emotionally attached to your current friend and that attachment is distressing to you, is my understanding. If you could make that attachment disappear right now, will you make it gone, immediately, so that you like her but you don’t need her in any way?
I am curious about your relationships with your parent or parents, currently and when you were a child. Would you like to share about it?
anita
June 30, 2017 at 10:54 pm #155894CloudParticipantI’m confused about your question, what are you asking?
Yes, I am emotionally attached to her as she became attached to me as well. She practically rushed the friendship, we became so close so unexpectedly. She was very willing to help me through my heartbreak, supporting and encourging me through the whole process even though I was hurt and afraid to get close to anyone since my break up. As many times that I try to be distant she’ll tap on my wall that I’ll open for her to let her in even though I have trust issues for some reason I just couldn’t stop going to her whenever my anxiety takes over. I knew deep down that I needed to take a step back of this new found friendship cause of my attachment was very serious that I was obsessed for her comfort. I’ve stated this to her many times last year, no matter what she wanted to stay by my side. She let me in her life and I let her in mine.
I wonder why she was doing this, I began to think she just wanted my attention alone or using me in some way. But she wasn’t, she was desperate for a friend cause of her abusive ex (they dated 2014-15 18 months) limited her from a social life from family and her friends. Once she finally left him she wanted to explore her freedom and become a better person than she once was before. She had a hard life in the past.
She and I are very similar, we are both big hearted, selfless, honest and true types of people that will attract narcissist. We also have a good sense of humor and love to talk about anything. As of today I call her my best friend.
All I know what this friendship is is two women who had their heart broken by someone we thought would love us, women who want to be seen for who we are and loved for who we are. Women that need to focus on ownselves to find love within. she has her whole life of ahead of her, she needs to grow and move forward with her life to find herself. As do i.
I have already had my talks to my therapist about my realtionship with my new found friend, I understand what I am going through with this attachment. I just need to move on cause we have our own separate lives and we need to stay focus on our own selves for now. She’ll always be on my mind and I will always wonder if we ever will be more than what it is now. But I have to get my head out of the clouds and live my life here. I am so looking forward to actually meeting her next year. I just struggle with my feelings for her from time to time.
June 30, 2017 at 11:25 pm #155896CloudParticipantI’ve read the posts you and Scott said on the form Scott posted titled Relationship Anxiety Cycle, his post caught my attention because I was like this and still am doing the same cycle he put himself in. I have done the same cycle with my ex best friend years ago way before social media. I have realized (when I befriended my current best friend) that she and I grew attach to each other due to the past abuse caused by our own exes. in her case it was her abusive boyfriend and to me it was my first love and first heartbreak with my childhood friend. My current best friend was sexually assulted at age 13 and try to commit sufficed a few times. she later dated a abusier that tried to get her pregnant, he controlled her and mainlipuated her as well. I can never relate the pain she been through yet she told me that I should have never be treated the way my ex best friend treated me. I just never understood why she felt I was treated horribly when she in fact went through hell at a very young age.
I can see now, why she grew attach to me so quickly and afraid to lose me. She always was so apologetic to me if she forgot to reply to my message (it only been a day pass) or when she made me nervous when she gave me that “hope” that we could have a relationship in the future. She was so willing to let me know she will never hurt me. When we talk she tells me about her life in full detail, she explains herself in a more of a victim type of person in whatever situation she is in. that I’ll give her sympathy and worry about her that I end up comforting her. it became a addiction for me to wanting to know her well being and about her life. She likes my attention. US both do this to each other. This is why I wanted to take a step back, we need to care for our own selves first. But we still have each other close even though there is a ocean between us. Usually she texts first more than I text her, now days we hardly text much. She is out of work and stays at home due to a illness she is caring for before she goes back to work. I give her space but as I said before she is always on my mind and I do check in on her.
About my relationship with my family, I am close with my parents and my older three sisters. I was very close to my friends I grew up with that included my ex best friend. my attachment to people started with my family and my childhood friends. this explains why I am so close to my new best friend cause after breaking up my friendship with my ex best friend, my new friend and I enter each others lives quickly and grew attach to each other.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by Cloud.
July 1, 2017 at 5:32 am #155904AnonymousGuestDear Cloud:
Emotional Attachment is the theme of your thread, I believe. In your relationship with your current friend you are experiencing an anxious/preoccupied attachment to her, feeling at times overly needy of her, being overly occupied with her in your mind, to the point of not focusing on your life otherwise.
On one hand you long for attachment, intimacy, closeness but on the other hand, it is associated with anxiety and distress for you. It is possible that a reason behind your identification with the Asexual typing is that physical closeness, particularly sexual, is very distressing for you. Again, closeness is a double edge sword- you long for it and you fear it.
The title of your thread has “letting go of my feelings for my best friend”- I think that the reason you want to let go of your attachment feelings to her is the anxiety that is associated with your attachment, to her and to anyone else.
The reason I asked about your relationships with your parents is that how we get attached romantically to others as adults has a lot to do with how we got attached to our parents. I will ask my question of the last post in a clearer way: as a child, before your ex best friend was in your life, were you anxious? Did you feel that you cannot trust your mother or father (or both) to treat you well continuously?
anita
July 1, 2017 at 5:49 pm #155942CloudParticipantI have no trust issues within my family, I am emotionally attached to my family and the friends I grew up with. The people in my life now that I am only close to is my family, my best friend that I call my sister and my new life current friend
July 1, 2017 at 7:02 pm #155944CloudParticipantI’m just emotionally close to my best friends one I grew up with that is like my sister to me and the one I have feelings for that I have a good connection with. I have a difficult time with letting go of my feelings for my friend i want to meet her spend time with her really get to know her. I do try my best to get out in the world to make more friends but those two are the only close friends i have now.
July 1, 2017 at 7:43 pm #155946AnonymousGuestDear Cloud:
Well, two close friends is more than many people have. And a close family, my goodness, that is a whole lot more than many people experience.
I hope your feelings for your best friend do become less intense, less dominant, so that you can focus better on the here-and-now.
anita
July 1, 2017 at 7:55 pm #155948CloudParticipantThat is the discussion I had with my therapist (and to my current friend), is to focus on the here and now. Which i struggle with, I worry about the future all the time. I set goals and achieve them but my hopes of finding true love do hang over my head. I may find someone in the future, maybe her or maybe someone else. Its just i need to get out there more make time to see the world instead of going to my 9 to 5 job everyday
July 1, 2017 at 8:18 pm #155952AnonymousGuestDear Cloud:
What are your feelings about joining an online dating site so to have the opportunity to meet women you don’t meet otherwise? If you don’t like the idea, how can you meet possible candidates for the love relationship you are hoping to have?
anita
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