Home→Forums→Relationships→Should i stay or move on
- This topic has 56 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 3 months ago by Tee.
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August 11, 2021 at 5:22 am #384501AnonymousGuest
Dear Jisoo:
“I know his friends, colleagues and his family/home here“- he has a reason to be a nice guy to you: not only so that you will think that he is a nice guy, but also so to maintain his nice guy image with his friends, colleagues and family with whom you interact or may interact at any time.
“He is a very good listener and have a calm, charming personality“- this is how you view him, and this is how others in his=your home town view him. He wants to maintain this image.
You wrote that you had fights with him: “I would shout, cry, don’t talk for few days etc. He would remain silent all through and will talk normal to me when I cool down… He has bought me gifts in his last visit, bears all mood swings [they are really really bad]. If I am him, would never continue this friendship with me“- he doesn’t want you to take your “really really bad” mood swings to his friends, colleagues and family and spoil his nice-guy image.
You are living in his home town with his friends, colleagues and family. He is living in a different country. He had sex with you once. You “fell for him”. Sometimes you get very emotional and angry, shouting and crying to him, etc. He doesn’t want you to take your crying and shouting to his friends, colleagues and family, so he takes it/ endures it until you calm down. He listens to you, advises you, brings you gifts so to keep you calm and maintain his home town nice- guy image.
“I fell for him and asked if he wants a relationship. He said we are more than friends but not a relationship… He meets other women , also has some friends with benefits in the city he is staying“- he wants to keep you calm, so he tells you that the two of you are more than friends. He is not interested in a relationship with you: he is seeing other women.
All in all, seems to me, at this point, that he regrets having had sex with you because as a result, you fell for him (or fell for him more), becoming very attached and very emotional. What he’s been trying to do since is damage control: keeping you calm.
anita
August 11, 2021 at 10:20 am #384517JisooParticipantHi Teak and Anita, yeah trust is most important for any friendship or relationship. There’s either trust or no trust.. but see sawing between these…bought me much emotional drain. He did put lot of effort to gain my trust in later months but somehow I could never forget that name thing. We would chat whole day, talk for 1 hour , vc sometimes. Now it’s only few msgs and we totally ignore each other some days.. but somehow when we talk ..its like going back to home. Regarding his brother, no, he never shares his pain with me. However he does share about his mom who passed away few years ago. He only shared happy memories of his mom and bro. And why he could not open up with me ..I have no idea. From my end I have a detachment and emotionally unavailable mentality …. its a different topic altogether. Anita, we got close after I developed feelings and not the other way round. And I am not clingy or nothing extra feelings have come to me just because of intimacy. I may have not provided complete information, sorry for that. No, he don’t have to manage any image here. He never talked of marriage or a relationship with me ..so there were never false promises or cheating. The main reason for my fights were always the same. He would text non stop , call multiple times, share pics whole of the week and it suddenly reduces on the weekend. One or 2 msgs , calls very rarely. So this type of hot cold treatment drove me nuts and my mental state was bad…resulting in either crying or shouting. He works as a business head of a MNC and travels international multiple times , but would keep in touch with me every single day. And Regarding my mood swings , they were mostly because of my loss and some other stuff going in my life. He is always supportive that way. All in all, I know he is not good to my emotional health and slowly detached myself..but not able to cut it down entirely. And I don’t trust him. Only God can understand his intentions:) I did ask him multiple times why he wants to gift me, why he wants to be in touch etc…he says we can’t do everything with expectations. Few things happen this way too. I have own issues and need healing of the heart.
August 11, 2021 at 10:39 am #384518AnonymousGuestDear Jisoo:
“I have own issues and need healing of the heart“- my heart was sick too, for a long, long time. if you want to share about your own issues and the sickness in your heart, please do. I will read attentively and offer you my ideas regarding healing your mind and heart.
anita
August 11, 2021 at 12:59 pm #384527TeeParticipantDear Jisoo,
And why he could not open up with me ..I have no idea.
There was/is definitely something that he is hiding from you. Even if he seems perfect sometimes and talking to him feels “like home”, there is that other, secretive, deceptive part of him, which he is hiding from you. You don’t know what it is and what he is hiding, but in any case, it makes him untrustworthy and inappropriate for even keeping as a friend. He is telling you he is more than a friend, but no, he isn’t, because in friendship you know about the other party, they aren’t keeping large parts of their life hidden from you. So no, he’s not a friend, but rather a “mysterious stranger”, with questionable intentions. Anyway, I’d stay away from him…
From my end I have a detachment and emotionally unavailable mentality …. its a different topic altogether.
If you want to share some more about it, please do… It’s interesting because you said you have an anxious attachment style and you reacted strongly when he showed signs of withdrawing. So I am curious as to what you mean by being emotionally unavailable and detached?
August 12, 2021 at 1:27 am #384567JisooParticipantHi Anita & Teak,
I am still in a fix on what to do, not able to end it completely with him. its not because i am in love or such feelings ..but to be honest i am selfish from my end. vented and dumped my emotional frustrations on him all the time [these are my personal things and not related to him] He would listen , advise appropriately and try to change my mood. So .. if u can read between the lines , i am as self centered as him and used him. This brings the response to your questions about my anxious/detachment mentality and as well the pain in my heart.
lost my husband suddenly few years ago, right in front of my eyes. I did move on by changing house, changing work place, got busy with managing my finances and other issues.. all along trying to give my kid a happy childhood. He was only 3.5 years old at that time. Everyone around me appreciate me for being a strong woman but my inside is not yet healed. I did nothing to give myself a break to process my thoughts or feelings. Developed anxious and insecure attachment now .. not just with a romantic connection, its the same in general too. For ex, you and me travel together for some 8 hours in a bus and u are very good to me. You promise to keep in touch after getting down but could not do that for your own reasons. I will panic, feel bad , not eat food, cry etc. So this is how basically my friendship with that person started. And i realized this with other people too ..like when a colleague moves to another company, i would really feel bad/miss her even though over association was very very small. I have very low self esteem and self worth, don’t know what to do about it. I follow tedx talks, motivational videos and self help books .. trying to implement whatever i can ..but the change lasts for only few weeks and i am back to normal.
At the same time, there’s a detachment . i witnessed my life collapsing in a matter of seconds and now not really invested in any relationship completely. i am scared it may end suddenly , same thoughts w.r.t my family members too. As per my self introspection, i believe this is all result of not mourning much for my loss, did not have much time for anything , i had to really move on quickly for the sake of my son. In these all years i took more leaves for emotional sickness than physical sickness. My parents, siblings, cousins, wonderful friends and colleagues were all part of my journey and supported a lot. But this inside healing is a lone process . I am okay now for most part of the year but developed some different aspects which were not part of my personality before the loss.
This guy might be a very bad man, selfish , manipulative or whatever but i am the one who is letting him access to me, owing to my own issues. Both of us know it very well. But on surface level he keeps saying that i am the Queen and doing good to him by keeping in touch. Teak, he never showed signs of withdrawing. Its only me who is there/not there, talk good one day/cry one day, put boundaries/remove them ..lot of such stuff. I believe he is only representing what i am inside .. unavailable/untrustworthy.. Read somewhere that we attract the same kind of people until we heal ourselves/change our thought. i am insecure around relationships , so may be attracted a guy who is feeding me self worth. I am in a well paying stable job, manage home and kid all by myself, i exercise, keep myself well groomed, friendly with lot of ladies in my society and office, into spirituality, little hobbies etc.
Please share your thoughts .
August 12, 2021 at 7:56 am #384578AnonymousGuestDear Jisoo:
“I am in a well paying stable job, manage home and kid all by myself, I exercise, keep myself well groomed, friendly”, “I would shout, cry, don’t talk for few days etc. He would remain silent all through.. bears all mood swings (they are really really bad)… I am not clingy or nothing, extra feelings have come to me just because of intimacy…Its only me who is there/not there, talk good one day/cry one day, put boundaries/remove them ..lot of such stuff. I believe he is only representing what I am inside .. unavailable/untrustworthy…. Please share your thoughts”-
– my thoughts: (1) From the totality of descriptions and comments about this man so far, I have no picture/ no understanding of him: I understand nothing about his thoughts, feelings and/ or motivations, (2) Seems like you are holding yourself together and functioning well in the context of the workplace and elsewhere, but not in the context of intimacy/ closer relationships.
I hope that, given that you have a “well paying stable job”, you can afford psychotherapy where you will be able to process the death of your husband and your current difficulties in the context of closer relationships.
anita
August 12, 2021 at 8:05 am #384579JisooParticipantHi Anita, thanks for the inputs. Yeah, me too considering therapy to resolve my issues. Why was the intimacy part highlighted? Can you please explain. We are no longer romantically close, only close friend. It was in the past, I am seeing some one new.
August 12, 2021 at 8:11 am #384580AnonymousGuestDear Jisoo:
You are welcome. I boldfaced “just because of intimacy” not to indicate physical intimacy with the man we discussed, but to indicate your seeming difficulty with emotional intimacy with him and with other people, such as the person you rode the bus with for 8 hours.
anita
August 12, 2021 at 8:14 am #384581JisooParticipantThanks for the clarification. You are point on, that is what I lack.
August 12, 2021 at 8:28 am #384583AnonymousGuestDear Jisoo:
You are welcome. I hope that you seriously consider therapy then, being that you identified what you lack. The title of your thread is “should I stay or move on“- I am thinking of you moving on to therapy and healing!
anita
August 13, 2021 at 1:56 am #384618TeeParticipantDear Jisoo,
Teak, he never showed signs of withdrawing
I mentioned that because you said he would be calling and chatting with you all the time during the week, and then practically disappear on the weekends:
He would text non stop , call multiple times, share pics whole of the week and it suddenly reduces on the weekend. One or 2 msgs , calls very rarely. So this type of hot cold treatment drove me nuts and my mental state was bad…resulting in either crying or shouting.
That’s what I meant by withdrawing – that he would withdraw his care and attention at times. But you’re right, it would be more accurate to say that he was hot and cold: sometimes very close, sometimes disappearing on you. So he sent you mixed signals.
lost my husband suddenly few years ago, right in front of my eyes.
i witnessed my life collapsing in a matter of seconds and now not really invested in any relationship completely. i am scared it may end suddenly , same thoughts w.r.t my family members too.
Losing your husband so suddenly, in front of your eyes, is a huge trauma. No wonder you are now anxious about suddenly losing those you care about. You are anxious about losing them, but at the same time are trying to be detached, to protect yourself from a potential horrible loss in the future.
Its only me who is there/not there, talk good one day/cry one day, put boundaries/remove them ..lot of such stuff.
Well, it was also him who was there and not there. As far as I understood, you were always there for him, you always sought contact, and even a deeper bond, but he was the one who was rejecting it. He did it either by physically disappearing on you, e.g. not being available on the weekends, or by rejecting a romantic relationship in spite of showing care and affection for you otherwise. He was playing you, that’s for sure.
You were probably trying to protect yourself by putting some boundaries, by trying to set some rules of behavior (e.g. you made him show you his home), perhaps by rejecting his advances sometimes. But you didn’t really succeed to stay away, because it felt so good when he would talk to you. When he was available and giving you attention, it was wonderful, it felt like home. But when he would withdraw, it felt horrible and you felt abandoned.
I wonder if you experienced this same hot-cold dynamic in your childhood, with your parents, or it’s something that only got triggered now, after your husband’s death?
August 13, 2021 at 7:55 am #384624JisooParticipantHi Teak,
I finally told him that its the end and he accepted it. I did this exercise multiple times but went back to him and he would be as normal as before without a single question. Ending it finally. Its hurting , few tears too .. hope i will cope it well in the coming weeks 🙁
Yes, there was lot of hot n cold treatment …. its not like i didn’t notice.. pattern is same right from the first weekend we met ..but sadly i am in a state where i suck for even little attention/love given by anybody. And in the mid of my own traumatic feelings.. i always feel i am wrong and again patch up with him.. its like he might be not available for some days but still he is there when i don’t have anyone else 🙁 i spent sleepless nights thinking i can manage this well like the way he does ..but again to scratch .
yeah, i sought a deeper bond with him, tried bringing up that topic multiple times. But he gets really uncomfortable around such topics, cannot even meet my eyes if it is a video call. He either diverts the topic or ends the call. But at the same time, did not reject me directly, would keep saying let’s see, we will be together kind of words. Its me who kept an end to such topics but i did say i deserve truth as a human ; it does not matter its romantic relationship or not. I feel like a stupid to believe such random words and hurt my heart multiple times. But then again i did see real love/admiration in his eyes in the initial months and later on repented multiple times assuming may be i asked for a relationship too soon and he backed out. This i say because i pushed him away multiple times but he still held on to me . He literally worshiped me even past the honeymoon stage of a meeting. Its only possible if he either a psychopath with no emotions or have feelings for me .. other than that why does anyone bears others frustrations in this world. i am shameful to accept that i was quiet abusive few times with him. And he has one strong reason against relationship .. its a long distance one, he will not relocate to home country until his retirement age ..which is probably 25 years from now, he does not want to marry me .. so what’s the use of having a long distance relationship. he also mentioned once trying to have a commitment in a long distance relationship is utterly nonsense. i too agreed with that …. he has his needs and cant wait for 4 months to have it with me .. more over when we know this is how it is going to be until we get old. So there is not even scope for a committed relationship. And he is a decent person, not kind of asking nudes/sexting or anything which i am not comfortable with. His logic is simple, says we will be good to each other virtually and at the same time have a real life with real people. Sadly , I am not capable of doing exactly what he does.
Any self respecting and self loving person might have gotten out of this long long back .. but it is me here. Right now i am concerned more about my attitude more than anything else. Scared all my relationships might end this way ..me chasing unavailable/shady people thinking this is what makes me happy. I did meet 2 guys in recent times , both of them want relationship but i am scared and blocked them. Strangely i seek a relationship always and when someone who wants it , enters my life, i hide/run away from that person.
Teak, no i did not see any hot cold treatment in my childhood years. Parents gave me the best of everything. But the negative aspect it .. i am emotional even when i was a small girl, tears would swell up even for little things and my mom would comment ‘she always cries for even small things’. Mom never tried to find out the reason. And also i faced couple of sexual harassment as a young girl. So i am extremely closed in some matters. That guy never ever forced me or made me uncomfortable, not even a single instance . if i say no, he would say okay , that’s it. i felt more safe with him than my own father. My parents shifted to my place after i lost my husband, my father gazes at my body very openly even when he understands its making me uncomfortable, also made 1 or 2 stupid comments. And i don’t understand mom cant notice it or simply pretends not to notice it. I had moved out of this phase with much difficulty , he is much better now but any given day , i prefer that shady guy to be safer than my father. Some of my mental issues developed because of this as well as i was in a situation where i was helpless. You can fight male friends/colleagues/strangers for wrong behavior but its difficult to fight own family members. Now i, my kid stay together and parents in different city. My parents fight a lot, it was same since my childhood. A lot means a lot .. very toxic. their only way of communication is arguing/shouting at each other. They don’t understand each other. I feel i am exactly like my mom, can never understand any man/get emotional intimacy. My father has same kind of behavior when i stayed with them for couple of months after child birth. It was a very disturbing environment for me with their constant fights and this behavior. Luckily i came back to my husband in few months and unfortunately back to them after he passed away.
Guess this explains a bit why i am in such shitty ship .. because it felt 100 times better/secure in some ways.
August 13, 2021 at 12:00 pm #384644TeeParticipantDear Jisoo,
thank you for sharing, and I want to say I am sorry that you had this experience with your father. It’s very hard to trust men when your own father betrays you like that. And then your mother doesn’t notice or doesn’t want to notice anything but blames your tears on your sensitivity. Have you ever spoken to your mother about your father’s sexual harassment? Or you thought she would figure it out on her own?
I think I understand now what you saw in this man: I believe you saw in him both a mother and a father figure. He listened to you and had empathy for you (like a good mother), and guided you and advised you (like a good father). So he was meeting some of your basic unmet childhood needs. And he didn’t want sex from you, so you could trust him in that sense – which was super important for you. So even if he was shady, hiding things from you, behaving hot and cold, at least he wouldn’t betray you like your father did. He was safer than your father, and you appreciated it a great deal.
I think the next step for you would really be therapy, to process and heal the sexual abuse/incest wound, and also the betrayal you feel with regard to your mother, who didn’t see or refused to see your pain.
How are you feeling now? I do hope this conversation is helping you, and not making it harder for you because these are difficult topics. But if you would like to share some more, or discuss some more, either about your childhood or this man, you are welcome to share, I am here for you.
- This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Tee.
August 13, 2021 at 11:48 pm #384668JisooParticipantHi Teak, thanks for reading such huge paragraphs and replying 😊 that topic is extremely difficult and I did share it with only one friend in my life . My friend suggested I live separately from them, which I am doing. I never spoke directly with mom regarding this, but she knows I hate him. They have helped me a lot after my tragedy, provided support in bringing up the kid. So I did bear it struggling inside myself, wearing hopelessly loose clothes . Now he changed, no old behavior as of now. May be because of age. Regarding that guy, his dialogue is same. He will meet me whenever he visits home city until either of us die. I can date other ppl and can walk away from him if I find myself a good relationship. He will always be there in case I wish to go back to him. Planning to talk to a therapist in the following week and work on my issues. Hopefully I ll write a new post some time later with a fresh perspective and happy mind.
August 14, 2021 at 1:27 am #384670TeeParticipantDear Jisoo,
you’re very welcome. It’s a blessing that you’re not forced to live with your parents any longer… I understand that on one hand you are grateful to them for helping you out, but on the other you resent them. I can also imagine how hard it was for you as a child to hide the secret from your mother… what do you think is the reason you never chose to tell her?
As for the guy, well, something is off, because he worshipped you, told you you were his queen, and that he would always be there for you, and yet, he didn’t want to find a way to live with you but said it’s hopeless because it’s long distance. Well, long-distance isn’t written in stone, it can be changed if the parties really love each other. But no, he didn’t really want a close, committed relationship with you, and I am starting to think that it’s because he was afraid you’d take away his independence.
The scenario that comes to mind is that he has issues with his mother, whom on one hand he adores and sees as a queen, but who sucks him in into her drama and he needs to take care of her emotionally, and it’s too much for him. And so he needs to stay away. So perhaps he felt he has a similar dynamic with you – he is attracted to you, but he also feels a very strong and intense need on your side, which he is afraid would suck him in and he would disappear? Do you think this is a plausible scenario?
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