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Telling the difference between gut and fear in relationships

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  • #426855
    anita
    Participant

    Dear Seaturtle:

    First the research: paraphrased, Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) is about the consumption of marijuana being problematic for the person consuming it in the context of work and relationships etc. It’s an official diagnosis in the U.S. (DSM-5) and in Europe (ICD-11)

    (1) very well mind/ cannabis use disorder: “cannabis use disorder is strongly associated with both major depression and generalized anxiety disorder.. Individuals most at risk of developing CUD include those who are younger, male, unmarried, in a lower income bracket, and reside in a state that has medical marijuana laws. People with psychiatric disorders also have a higher risk”

    (2) psychology today/ cannabis use disorder rising especially among mentally ill: “A great deal of excitement continues to be generated by the legalization of nonmedical cannabis use, also known as recreational or social use. Thankfully, cannabis users no longer need to fear arrest and harsh incarceration. Past criminal records for mere possession are gradually being expunged. Products tested for purity have become more available… As legalization and commercialization have become more accepted, the public’s perception of cannabis as harmless has grown. Much of this excitement is built on a foundation of ignoring and outright denying several inconvenient truths… How sweet it would be if cannabis use were proven to be free of any physical, cognitive, or emotional consequences—a myth indulged by many cannabis users

    “The study looked at trends within three age groups: under 35; 35-64; and 65 and up. In addition, researchers analyzed trends in CUD among patients with diagnoses of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, bipolar disorder, and psychosis spectrum disorders, without regard to whether these comorbidities predated or followed a diagnosis of CUD. A higher rate of CUD was found in patients with psychiatric comorbidities than in those without comorbidities, and the highest rates were among patients with bipolar and psychotic spectrum disorders…

    “Many patients… prefer cannabis as their medication for a variety of psychiatric conditions, despite evidence that it often only complicates treatment and worsens illness. It can be difficult to convince a patient that cannabis generally worsens depression, bipolar disorder, and psychotic spectrum disorders when its acute effects seem comforting and frankly enjoyable“.

    National library of medicine, ncbi. nlm. nih. gov: “For years we have heard in popular culture that cannabis use is less harmful or no more harmful than alcohol use; however, this does not appear to be the case for everyone…

    “Although physical health is not the focus of this article, there are several reported medical adverse events that are of concern, such as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, lung injury with vaping cannabis and arrhythmias. Additionally, the role of cannabis in trauma (e.g., motor vehicle collisions), injuries (e.g., falls), and in acute negative effects in conjunction with illicit drug use, are causes of ED (Emergency Department) admissions..

    “There are signals emerging from ongoing research that indicate that early (e.g., adolescent) and regular (daily or almost daily) use, as well as the use of high potency products [high in delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)] may be particular risk variables. These risk factors appear to decrease the average age for developing a mental illness and are attributed to an increased incidence of mental illness and increase the risk for development of a cannabis use disorder. Cannabis use is also associated with exacerbation of and possibly development of anxiety disorders and depressive disorders but the evidence is mixed and not yet as extensive as that for the association with psychosis… The popular point of view that cannabis is relatively harmless to use.. may be increasing ED presentations associated with it..

    “Of note, the ages 21–29 demographic comprised 52% of ED visits for cannabis-related complaints in 2017. It should be noted that much of the US data may be underestimating the effects of cannabis as the decision as to whether to go to an ED in the US can depend on medical insurance coverage, as shown by studies showing decreasing appearances by uninsured individuals”.

    Jan 6 & 8, you shared this regarding N’s cannabis use: “he did not take care of himself, he smoked way too much weed, he claimed it helped with his anxiety, and never came across high, there were times I didn’t even know. Infact it was not until I lived with him that I saw how much, that almost every date he hit at least something before coming out. I felt betrayed when I first realized how he was constantly high, cause he didn’t seem it at all, his body is so used to it… When we started living together and I witnessed how much I would ask him to be sober for dates, but then at the date he was much more jittery, EVEN LESS capable of a deep conversation sitting in one place. it bored him beyond belief. I have a lot of patience but his sober self caused me to run out sometimes, I began to want him to smoke so he would chill out and sit with me. He claimed it prevented him from having dreams… When we lived together I smoked more than I had ever before, and immediately after moving out, I stopped naturally, not even craving it at all. It had become a bonding experience with him… Then would have the vapes when we moved in and I Would find them, confused. He confessed how much he used it one time, but I know he lied about it after, withholding the truth anyways, his specialty. If I did not ask a specific question he would not be transparent about nicotine and weed. this  is helping me right now to recall these big negatives to n”-

    – I didn’t understand the above “it prevented him from having dreams“- what kinds of dreams?

    What do you currently think about to N’s negatives when it comes to his regular daily, regular smoking weed (and vaping nicotine)?

    I am wondering, remembering his talk about a future where he would stay home and you will be out working, bringing in the money, those were his serious thoughts/ a plan for the relationship..? And in materializing this plan, he’d stay home smoking weed all day..?

    anita

    #426869
    anita
    Participant

    Dear Seaturtle:

    I have a feeling that you are going through some difficult time right now and the difficult is getting old..? Taken from Star Wars, may the force be with you, Sea turtle!

    anita

    #426870
    seaturtle
    Participant

    Dear Anita,

    “– their sympathy for him probably triggers your (invalid, unjustified) guilt in regard to breaking up with N, part of you believing that N is a good guy vs you, the bad guy. But that part is wrong.”

    It does trigger this. It also triggers, what I think might be a larger trigger, that I feel again unseen. Just as I came to this sight with my very first post about N, and was not seen, even when I tell my mom, my close friend, they don’t see the gravity of the issues with N. Being in a high vibrational unison with my crown chakra was lonely in my relationship, and it is also outside of it, quite often. Which reminds me I need to set up an email address so we can connect!

    “Whenever you see N as the good guy vs you the bad guy, LOOK through your 3rd eye and see the truth.”

    It is interesting you bring this up because, just today I was thinking about how I have to daily remind myself why I broke up with him, and I wondered what I am strengthening as I do that. All this work of reminding myself the truth has to be developing some sort of muscle to be able to descern truth better in the future. My third eye is this muscle.

    “- when you see him as a gorgeous, beautiful man, open your 3rd eye and see him as a person who wants you to feel pain at times.”

    As I read this, at first I thought it was a good idea, then I was suprised by my next thought “Did I deserve it when he tried to cause me pain,” Had I done something worth the passive aggression. I fear that I took advantage of him.. When I wasn’t working for the first few months of last year, trying to find a new job that didn’t drain me. It took me a while, in the mean time I did my art and things around the house, but I could have done more. I could have grocery shopped and cooked more for him coming home from a long day from work and I was only home job searching online and painting. He half heartedly supported me, but after it was too late, after that time he told me he felt taken advantage of and I fear his causing me pain came from him feeling taken advantage of. I think I feel a lack of energy in my third eye now, as I just tried to think about why this could be invalid but I am quite tired. My new schedule is busy on monday and tuesday, but I am available in the evening. Plus, that sickness I had back in early December is still lingering, I thought I was better for about 5 days, then I got sick again December 27th, and since then have had a sore throat and just today I vomited, very random I thought. I felt fine before then suddenly nauseous and now I am exhausted. Yes I still want to continue to read because I needed to come here to journal tonight.

    – no, he knew that he was lying to you. (I am looking at him with MY 3rd eye and I am looking at you with my 3rd eye, seeing.. a girl who doesn’t want to take a boy off a pedestal, holding on to an elevated image of him).” 

    Why was he lying do you think? Do you think he knew why he was wanting to hurt me? I am not sure he was aware as to why he wanted to cause harm.

    ” her 3rd eye is closed. She sees a gorgeous looking man. She doesn’t see a man wanting her daughter to hurt when it’s convenient for him.”

    I agree with this about my mom. I fear her third eye has been closed most of her life and usually is. She is more like my brother, but less extreme, it would not shock me if she did the same thing as my brother. She even told me she wanted to (eye roll) but said very directly that would cause me harm. She does things that she thinks is right all the time, that were only clearly her heart and sacral.

    “to keep your 3rd eye and crown chakras open and high vibrational means to .. be alone in the midst of low vibrational 3rd eye and crown chakras.”

    I think what you said here is important for me to hear, I need to learn to be ok with this lonely feeling. Because if the only option to not feel alone in certain situations is to close that eye and crown, I don’t want to do it. I do often feel this loneliness in the midst of groups of people, less and less as I get older but I used to ache at this feeling and want to be like everyone else but as I have been learning, I want to continue to be okay with being uncomfortable rather than closing up. Because it is only if I stay open that I might find others like me, I believe.

    “– a gorgeous looking man who has been okay with his girlfriend wanting out of the relationship as long as she doesn’t succeed; a spider being okay with the fly trying to disengage from its sticky web as long as it doesn’t succeed.”

    How was this satisfying to him, or was he just too weak to end it himself.

    “- imagine an open and high vibrational Third Eye Chakra that can see a man clearly…”

    Then imagine her asking the man why his eye isn’t open, and he replies, annoyed, “you didn’t enjoy our time together I thought it was so nice?” And she replies “no it was nice… I just didn’t feel connected” and he says nothing. This is a true story.

    “- growing up wanting to be seen by low vibrational F=> wanting to be seen by low vibrational N.”

    Oh wow this is a good point.

    I will read and reply to your next post in a separate box

    Seaturtle

    #426871
    seaturtle
    Participant

    Dear Anita,

    “I have a feeling that you are going through some difficult time right now and the difficult is getting old..? Taken from Star Wars, may the force be with you, Sea turtle!”

    Thank you for your concern Anita 🙂 and yes is getting old! I thought I saw him on the freeway today… I feel like I saw a ghost. He was in the same exact truck as N, same sunglasses, same back cover over the truck with the same tools on the tops and sides. I sped ahead as to get a car between us, I truly thought it was him and my heart was beating so fast, he finally passed me and I saw a small difference and knew it wasn’t him but it was long enough to scare me. Also today during my break I was half asleep and saw him. Last night I dreamt that I went to N’s parents house…and his dad asked me why I broke up with N and as I explained he stopped paying attention, later my mom told me his dad said to her “I just don’t understand why she wasted two years.” It was a strange dream and I woke up right from that to work.

    In the shower, after I got home, I had a strange vision I had not imagine before. It was two years later and N said that he read everything from this thread! he said he would like to talk at coffee. I met him and he apologized for everything… Specifically He said he was sorry for not respecting me, and that it was not my fault he couldn’t see the wisdom in how I was doing things that he judged. He apologized for treating me out of his pain, and said I didn’t deserve it. He of course said he wished he didn’t have to lose me through all of it and wondered if I was single. To which, in my vision I did not respond to. I then snapped out of it and felt some sort of peace.., His ghost made amends with me, and it brought me some peace. strange.

    Seaturtle

    #426872
    seaturtle
    Participant

    I will read your next post tomorrow I think, as right now I feel calm enough to wind down and hopefully not dream of him.

    Goodnight Anita

    Seaturtle

    #426874
    anita
    Participant

    Dear Seaturtle:

    I was so happy to see that you posted (following my last post to you this evening, about half an hour ago) that I exclaimed out loud something like: Ahh!

    I will reply to your post above and to what you may post later tonight on Wed morning. .. oh, I just got your most recent post that you posted just now, “calm enough to wind down” reads good enough to me, Good, vibrationally restful might, precious, special Seaturtle!

    anita

    #426875
    anita
    Participant

    vibrationally restful night, I meant…

    #426890
    anita
    Participant

    Dear Seaturtle:

    “It also triggers, what I think might be a larger trigger, that I feel again unseen” – To see sea turtle is what Sea turtle needs from others. Both your parents did- do not- see sea turtle. N did-does not.

    “Just as I came to this sight with my very first post about N, and was not seen“- I like your unintentional substitution of sight for site. Again, Sea turtle needs to be seen. It is a non-negotiable, not to be compromized need.

    “Even when I tell my mom, my close friend, they don’t see the gravity of the issues with N. Being in a high vibrational unison with my crown chakra was lonely in my relationship, and it is also outside of it, quite often“- if everyone was in high vibrational unison with their crown chakras, no one in the whole world, who is around people, would’ve been lonely. Quite often, a lot of people are lonely every day and every night.

    I grew up (or in, I prefer to say) excruciatingly unseen. I remember thinking: doesn’t anyone see me? How is it possible that no one sees me, I am right here… am I here? 

    Which reminds me I need to set up an email address so we can connect!“-no rush, whenever it’s convenient for you. We are communicating very well right here.

    “Just today I was thinking about how I have to daily remind myself why I broke up with him, and I wondered what I am strengthening as I do that. All this work of reminding myself the truth has to be developing some sort of muscle to be able to discern truth better in the future. My third eye is this muscle“- I am thinking of you breaking up with him as breaking away from weakness, unnecessary weakness. What I mean by it is that we are necessarily weak compared to some other animals like elephants, but when we compromise our crown chakras so to maintain a relationship, that’s unnecessary weakness.

    “I was surprised by my next thought ‘Did I deserve it when he tried to cause me pain,’ Had I done something worth the passive aggression. I fear that I took advantage of him.. When I wasn’t working for the first few months of last year…I did my art and things around the house, but I could have done more. I could have grocery shopped and cooked more for him coming home from a long day from work and I was only home job searching online and painting. He half heartedly supported me, but after it was too late, after that time he told me he felt taken advantage of and I fear his causing me pain came from him feeling taken advantage of”-

    – No, you didn’t deserve him causing you pain and being passive aggressive with you because how could you possibly know that he felt taken advantaged of. He didn’t tell you how he felt. As a matter of fact, he expressed otherwise and encouraged you to quit your job and paint at home. You thought it was okay with him because of what he expressed to you. You can’t read minds that are not expressed in words.. even with a vibrating crown chakra and a muscular third eye!

    “I think I feel a lack of energy in my third eye now, as I just tried to think about why this could be invalid but I am quite tired. My new schedule is busy…  I got sick again December 27th, and since then have had a sore throat and just today I vomited, very random I thought. I felt fine before then suddenly nauseous and now I am exhausted”- should you test yourself for covid again.. see a doctor?

    health line. com/ throat chakra healing: “When one or more of your chakras becomes blocked or unbalanced, it’s thought to have an impact on your physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health. The throat chakra (also known as Vishuddha) is responsible for communication, self-expression, and the ability to speak your personal truth… If your throat chakra is blocked or unbalanced, you may: * be fearful about speaking your personal truth * have a harder time expressing your thoughts * feel anxious about speaking or communicating. In addition.. you may experience outbursts of emotion or even the opposite: extreme quiet or refusal to speak. Emotionally, those with fifth chakra (throat chakra) imbalance may be highly critical of themselves and others…  Physically..  symptoms may manifest as the following: *a raspy throat * chronic sore throat..”. It continues with healing suggestions including neck stretches and yoga poses.

    I am thinking that communicating your personal, inner truth to your mother and to other people in your life more confidently and assertively (regardless of their reactions or lack of) will help. Better speak up than be quiet about matters most important to you. And when people can’t comprehend you/ don’t see you.. accept it with as much serenity as possible (not resisting it) while limiting or having no contact with them. One person seeing you.. is a good start.

    Why was he lying do you think? Do you think he knew why he was wanting to hurt me? I am not sure he was aware as to why he wanted to cause harm“- I think that he knew that he was angry with you and he knew that he wanted to hurt you (all animals want to or are prepared to hurt the object of their anger), but he didn’t think much about it, didn’t contemplate it.

    I think that he lied when he said that he was joking,  that he knew he was telling you an untruth, but again, I don’t think that he gave any thought to lying, no introspection. Think of it, if you will, as him being on one side of a ping pong table: he sees a ball coming at him, he automatically deflects it, throwing it at the other person at the other end of the ping pong table. Lying when deflection calls for it, as well as teflon-ing otherwise, is part of his MO.

    “I agree with this about my mom. I fear her third eye has been closed most of her life and usually is… She does things that she thinks is right all the time, that were only clearly her heart and sacral“- a low vibrational crown chakra does not send vibrations that are strong enough to open the 3rd eye.

    “I think what you said here is important for me to hear, I need to learn to be ok with this lonely feeling. Because if the only option to not feel alone in certain situations is to close that eye and crown, I don’t want to do it… I want to continue to be okay with being uncomfortable rather than closing up. Because it is only if I stay open that I might find others like me, I believe”- I don’t think that you can close that eye once (1)  you had it wide open, and (2) you endured that discomfort of being alone long-enough, and (3) you are not completely alone.

    You asked in regard to my suggestion that N was satisfied with being in a relationship with you even though he knew that you repeatedly wanted out of the relationship:  “How was this satisfying to him, or was he just too weak to end it himself.“- he wasn’t introspective enough to end it. Introspection (an open crown chakra, an open 3rd eye) does not appear like a source of satisfaction to him.

    “In the shower, after I got home, I had a strange vision I had not imagine before. It was two years later and N said that he read everything from this thread! he said he would like to talk at coffee. I met him and he apologized for everything… Specifically He said he was sorry for not respecting me, and that it was not my fault he couldn’t see the wisdom in how I was doing things that he judged. He apologized… I then snapped out of it and felt some sort of peace.. His ghost made amends with me, and it brought me some peace. strange.”- it’s the desire of little girl Seaturtle to be seen and respected and apologized to, for all the wrong done to her.

    “I thought I saw him on the freeway today.. I feel like I saw a ghost. He was in the same exact truck as N… I sped ahead as to get a car between us… it was long enough to scare me“- his ghost scares you, his ghost being your father when you were growing up, hurting you, not seeing you. It was a painful, long-term, on and on experience.

    anita

    #426893
    seaturtle
    Participant

    Dear Anita,

    I am responding to your most recent reply now and will reply to the cannabis disorder reply next.

    “I like your unintentional substitution of sight for site. Again, Sea turtle needs to be seen. It is a non-negotiable, not to be compromized need.”

    Haha, this made me laugh, funny how unintentionally accurate it was.

     How is it possible that no one sees me, I am right here… am I here? “

    Interesting  am i here.. I feel like I have had this similar out of body feeling of ‘what is my impact here, do I have one?’

    “-no rush, whenever it’s convenient for you. We are communicating very well right here.”

    This is how I feel as well. I want to and feel like it will happen in the right time.

    Similarly I feel this way about getting my things from N. My roommate tells me to just get it over with. But I feel like I will know when is the right time.. Do you think this is true? wow as I asked this to you (and myself) I heard the title of my thread again “is it gut or fear”that does not feel it is quite the right time, or is it intuition or fear? Still hard for me to tell this difference..

    “when we compromise our crown chakras so to maintain a relationship, that’s unnecessary weakness.”

    Hm, I had to re-read this out loud to myself to let it sink in. A weakness that comes from the habit formed in trying to compromise it for a parent?

    “You thought it was okay with him because of what he expressed to you. You can’t read minds that are not expressed in words.. even with a vibrating crown chakra and a muscular third eye!”

    There was a little voice in my head that wasn’t sure if he meant what he was saying. I wondered if it would lead to passive aggression, it lead to me feeling awkward when he did pay for things, such as dinner, park passes or at the grocery store checkout. It is almost like I could feel the energy a bit, but then his words said otherwise so I would ignore the energy I felt. It was subtle, but I feel like I predicted him eventually admitting he felt a certain way, but I also hoped it wasn’t true and that his words were honest. When he finally confronted me and said out loud he felt that way, I took it, I took it very patiently and not shocked, his lack of expressing himself caused me to be on guard for something blowing up eventually. As it seems obvious to me that when you hide a feeling for so long it will eventually come out in a burst of energy, not obvious to him. Anyways I think part of my guilt comes from feeling like I knew he felt that way but ignored that feeling cause he said otherwise, unless he was passive aggressive and did say something, but later he disregarded what he said, calling it a joke and so forth.

    I am working on forgiving myself, or if that isn’t the correct phrasing, then relieving myself of the guilt I feel. Because I was doing my best, and what happened happened. I was not lazy, I never felt like I was giving up I was always putting energy into something that lead me to where I am now. I spent alot of time at the gym and library, they became a homes away from home. I wasn’t sure what was next for me but I wanted to keep moving in a healthy direction, physically and mentally. This is when I read the books “the empath’s guide to survival” where I learned all the ways I took on others energy, and some ways to mentally protect myself when around negativity. I also read “the untethered soul,” where I learned that the thoughts in my head were not me, they were instead something I could witness, and if I could witness them then I am not them because I am infact the witnesser. I job searched and searched until I finally found a job I learned alot from in April. Although that job did not pay well, so N was still the majority of the pay. I did everything I could, never saved a dime as anything left over I would pay for coffee or park passes when I could spare it so he felt I was trying and would not get comfortable with him doing it all. I also contributed by being the 90% bridge between us, “communication.” He said he recognized this, but I don’t think he truly was aware or saw it’s full results and purpose. He felt work was more important, saving money and buying land and property.

    “- should you test yourself for covid again.. see a doctor?”

    Perhaps, medically I am working on my ovarian tumor, and right now I feel like I can only do one thing at a time. Especially since this sickness is manageable, today I feel much better. I am trying to eat as best as I can, and take vitamins, I should give myself a timeline though, I will call it one more week, if next Wednesday I am still feeling symptoms I will make an appointment.

    You wrote: “When one or more of your chakras becomes blocked or unbalanced, it’s thought to have an impact on your physical….If your throat chakra is blocked or unbalanced, you may: * be fearful about speaking your personal truth * have a harder time expressing your thoughts * feel anxious about speaking or communicating. Physically..  symptoms may manifest as the following: *a raspy throat * chronic sore throat..”. It continues with healing suggestions including neck stretches and yoga poses.”

    This is very interesting because I got this recurring sore throat monday morning, the morning after finding out my brother contacted N. Also, the stress of how I will get my things back and what I will say, has been heavy on me, on my throat. I wonder why I am affected more than others… I am more sensitive that anyone I have every met. For example, nicotine, it’s spiritual affects on me was enough for me to never be tempted into it again, even after lots of drinks on NYE when my roommate, M, was using one. I was tempted then remembered the affects on me and that was enough to release the pull on me. I asked her if she feels spiritually attacked in any way and she says she does get mildly anxious the following day but that it doesn’t really bother her and she’s grown to even like the anxiety… Then now, if my throat is truly feeling this way because of a blocked throat chakra, a loss of how to express myself in various ways, I doubt others would feel this. On christmas vacation, my dad took us to a vacation spot on CA, and he had purchased a home there! it was absolutely beautiful, the home was built in the 70’s and the last owners both passed away, the only way to get a house in that neighborhood. I had bad dreams every night there, I started to ask questions about previous owners, but all I found out was the wife died first, the husband followed a year or so after, and that the husband smoked… After I learned this I started to be able to smell the nicotine, I opened the windows in my room as I could smell it on the walls. I wondered, is it possible this nicotine in the walls from years ago is giving me these nightmares? similar nightmares to when I fully inhale it? Or could it be the deaths, I truly wondered if ghosts were real. I told all bad spirits to leave me alone before sleep that night, after I learned all this information. The following nights I was awake in my room for an hour before to listen to high vibrational music and dismiss any dark energy around me. I proceeded to have very vivid dreams, however they were not as evil, as the first nightmare had been. I did something to that space with my words, or perhaps just the open windows was the trick.

    Anyways, I brought it up to my family members and they all make fun of me say I am doing voodoo or something, they just don’t believe in spirits, and then my brother and sister are very christian religious and think I am praying to some other god, I am certainly not seen in my family hahaha. The only one who understands me, or at least sees me whether she agrees or not, is my youngest sister. She witnesses my other sister and brothers religious behaviors and the extreme judgment in both of them and doesn’t want to be like them, she and I feel aligned in a lot of ways. I definitely feel she is one of my soulmates in this life. However she is also only 17, so I don’t overwhelm her with all the things I feel, but I open up as much as she does, which is much more than even I was able to do at 17. When it is open, Her crown chakra is a little beaming light, I love it, I am smiling as I write this, so sweet.

    “I am thinking that communicating your personal, inner truth to your mother and to other people in your life more confidently and assertively (regardless of their reactions or lack of) will help. Better speak up than be quiet about matters most important to you. And when people can’t comprehend you/ don’t see you.. accept it with as much serenity as possible (not resisting it) while limiting or having no contact with them. One person seeing you.. is a good start.”

    It does make me feel good, and in high vibration, when I can share my inner truth. My mom receives it well, and it is almost like her crown opens up to me, or her third eye… because she does see me. But it is only temporarily. Over time she loses what she saw, and instead of when first I told her about N and she told me to stay away from him, she loses it and weeks later says maybe he is in therapy right now…clearly third eye closed once again. It allows me to feel sadness, which I don’t like… sharing inner truth feels good, but it not being seen feels sad and hurtful. I feel the same way with my religious sister, she sees me sometimes then later almost takes it back. My (religious) sister causes me a deep sadness and pain, she treats everything I say with skpeticism, and responds to almost everything I say (when speaking spiritually) with “well the lord says…” She loses me with that cause I have already made up my mind about christianity. My brother also causes me pain, when he enters manic, he hurts people I love, like my little sister and mom, and now me. Although N is off his phone, my brother could contact him on social media or something out of a manic state, just causing me pain. He says very bluntly mean things quite often like “I judge you.” he has literally said that to me, thinks I reject “the lord” and am going to hell… he is so self righteous it also makes me very annoyed and even angry at times, I just want to close his mouth.

    You see me Anita, it is something that gave me the strength to believe that there is something to see. That question you asked earlier “am i here?” I have wondered it too, in the relationship with N, and I believe You helped me along my journey to prove that I AM HERE. Part of me wonders where I would be if it weren’t for our conversation here… would I be with N? probably still trying to make it work, since my friends and family around me now would likely not discourage it, except perhaps my roommate M, the only thing is I am not sure she would vocalize her disapproval.

    ” I think that he knew that he was angry with you and he knew that he wanted to hurt you (all animals want to or are prepared to hurt the object of their anger), but he didn’t think much about it, didn’t contemplate it. … Lying when deflection calls for it, as well as teflon-ing otherwise, is part of his MO.”

    I agree.

    “- a low vibrational crown chakra does not send vibrations that are strong enough to open the 3rd eye.”

    Interesting, I did not realize one follows the other.

    “I don’t think that you can close that eye once (1)  you had it wide open, and (2) you endured that discomfort of being alone long-enough, and (3) you are not completely alone.”

    Well then Anita I hope I have you for a long time to avoid that third condition 🙂

    “he wasn’t introspective enough to end it. Introspection (an open crown chakra, an open 3rd eye) does not appear like a source of satisfaction to him.”

    Yes I can see this.

    “- it’s the desire of little girl Seaturtle to be seen and respected and apologized to, for all the wrong done to her.”

    Is little girl seaturtle the same as hatchling?

    “his ghost scares you”

    It does, and so does his flesh and blood. I am afraid about getting my things, but I need my passport from him. I am afraid he will say something to harm me and I feel in too sensitive state to feel it.

    Seaturtle

    #426894
    seaturtle
    Participant

    Dear Anita,

    Thank you for providing me your cannabis disorder research!

    “These risk factors appear to decrease the average age for developing a mental illness and are attributed to an increased incidence of mental illness and increase the risk for development of a cannabis use disorder. Cannabis use is also associated with exacerbation of and possibly development of anxiety disorders and depressive disorders”

    This reminds me of myself, I feel the consistent use alongside N, was beginning to cause me to have more anxiety than usual. This is why I initially stopped, I stopped before moving out, although still tempted every once in a while. But I stopped doing it regularly with N because I noticed it causes me more anxiety. In your more recent post you mention ” I don’t think that you can close that eye once (1)  you had it wide open..” As I also mentioned in my most recent reply I was taking care of many parts of myself in that time, by reading those books and going to the gym and taking long days in the gym to go to the spa facilities as well, I found lots of peace in the steam room (Seaturtle likes the humidity hah). So although I was smoking something destructive I was also doing things during the say to open my third eye, I believe that once I opened it, I could no longer unsee what it showed me. It is true what you say  “I don’t think that you can close that eye once (1)  you had it wide open.” What happened after I saw certain things, that I should move out, that N’s home was not good for me and nor was he for some reason. I stopped enjoying the effects of cannabis because it would only make me see what I saw when my third eye was open, see that I wasn’t in the right place, and it no longer brought me peace. More interesting is I smoked after that occasionally, knowing it would only make me anxious, but I kept thinking “maybe this time It will allow me to relax as it had before.” But no, something changed in me and I constantly wondered “why can’t I enjoy weed anymore? I used to enjoy it, it made me creative, and I felt relaxed, why suddenly do I not enjoy it?” I think I was on the verge of developing cannabis use disorder myself, and thanks to my third eye I ended the cycle. I still crave it at times, but it doesn’t relax me still today, I have with my roommate two or three times since living here and each time only enjoyed it partially, more than I did towards the end with N, but still not as much as I used to. I have to admit I do wish/hope in the future I will be able to enjoy it occasionally again, but very occasionally as I did before meeting N. Before him it was not often, it was a few times a year. Well other than it was consistent when my mom shared her thc vape with me when I was 18. a strange time I have not thought back on very much.

    “– I didn’t understand the above “it prevented him from having dreams“- what kinds of dreams?”

    He told me once or twice about a time in his life he had terrible sleep apnea and sleep paralysis. I think it is because of his football career. He played from 7 years old until he was 22. He played in high school, his position (i looked up once) is the most common to get hit in the back of the head. This was an issue in our relationship I had to hide my disapproval of the sport, honestly I find it stupid, the amount of injuries that the news hides, the girlfriends and wives that have tried to share their stores of a disease called CT, “Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a brain condition thought to be linked to repeated head injuries and blows to the head.” (found on NHS.uk, first google search result). N told me about his fear of getting this disease, it was a joke amongst him and his football friends.., this bothered me, they would joke about losing their memories and going crazy.. it scared me. I did alot of research on the disorder one time and it scared me, it is early onset dementia and that is the most mild symptom ,wives of players said their husbands would show up at random places and not know how they got there, these men only being in their 40s, the youngest being only 17. After playing in highschool, N also played 4 years in college then another year he played for the national team, the Broncos. In this time he said he would have sleep paralysis, wake up and not be able to move. He often attributed alot of his mental strength to football, they taught him to get over his pain, this is where he gets his whole “words don’t matter” mantra. He would claim that nothing anyone said could affect him as much as he has gone through physically. I think this was his mindset anyways, it was hard to understand completely when he would talk about these things cause they were so far from my beliefs. But part of me admired his mental strength, He was able to endure lots of pain, something that perhaps I am too sensitive with so I thought he could balance me in this way. For example if it was too hot outside where we moved to lol, he taught me to not be anxious, to accept it, that the anxiety would make me hotter. He taught me to relax in pain, and in alot of ways I think I needed to hear what he said. On the dreams, he would tell me he would have very vivid dreams every night and it didn’t give him a restful sleep, so he would smoke to avoid dreams.

    “What do you currently think about to N’s negatives when it comes to his regular daily, regular smoking weed (and vaping nicotine)?”

    1-Although N does not take direct responsibility, when he smoked he would sort of get there. He did actually apologize for his behavior a couple times when he was high. Or we would be having an argument, he would smoke then come to my side on the argument… this was so destructive because it was these moments that made me feel he could self actualize, and I needed very little hope to allow the relationship to go on.

    2-I also think it was negative that he smoked to avoid feelings/dreams. It allows you to ignore what your body and mind are telling you, and just promoted his teflon.

    3-It also leads to eating badly, it makes you crave fast foods, and not only fast foods, but instant pleasures, like sex.

    4-It was so dangerous when I started to want him to smoke.. for 1 and 3. He was more passionate when he smoked. He was more adhd sober, an aspect of him I didn’t even know until our second year of dating because he used weed to medicate it. his adhd stressed me out, he would move so quickly, talk faster, just give me anxiety. I wanted him to slow down in conversation and in sex and the weed did this. Since I wanted him to smoke sometimes, I didn’t ask him to stop, I didn’t tell him to. Since I wanted it sometimes I didn’t feel like I could ask him to stop smoking, cause I felt hypocritical, I felt in a bind of having to just accept it as part of him.

    on vaping nicotine,

    1- I worried for his health. physically, his lungs and I could see it in his eyes and I could almost taste the nicotine in his skin…

    2- I worried for his mental health. I could tell he was ashamed of it, he felt badly about himself when he smoked it, so promoting his self disapproval making him then act out of his own self hate manifesting itself as rudeness towards me. After being noticeably mean once I literally told him if he is mean to himself he will inevitably be mean to me. Hurt people hurt people. This was a new concept to him and what, i think, led him to say he would take care of himself more, for us, at the last dinner we had.

    3- combination of mental and physical health, I worried that he needed so many substances.., His use of weed in the morning, then coffee, then energy drinks plus nicotine for lunch, then he would get home and said he hadn’t eaten all day.. it physically aged him and mentally depleted him. He wasn’t always like this, it was more towards the last couple months of our relationship. Because in the first year of our relationship he quit alot of these things in order for me not to know, he told me this, and I beleiev it because I remember him starting to look younger that year, from the first time I met him to the end of the first year he literally looked 10 years younger, partially cause of his 24 hr shifts at his dads company…. but also those substances.

    “I am wondering, remembering his talk about a future where he would stay home and you will be out working, bringing in the money, those were his serious thoughts/ a plan for the relationship..? And in materializing this plan, he’d stay home smoking weed all day..?”

    I think so. I wondered this before too, him saying he would stay home with kids if I wanted. At first I thought that was thoughtful of him to offer, to offer to support whatever I chose. But then I wondered about the weed and worried for future children that he wouldn’t attend to them properly, then lie and say everything went well even if one of them hit their head cause he was smoking, something like this. Since he hid smoking from me in the first place there is no way he would admit to smoking and losing track of a child. Maybe children would change him, I thought… but that is an awful big risk to take.

    Seaturtle

    #426905
    anita
    Participant

    Dear Seaturtle:

    I’ll reply further in the morning, but for now, “Similarly I feel this way about getting my things from N. My roommate tells me to just get it over with. But I feel like I will know when is the right time.. Do you think this is true? … I am afraid about getting my things, but I need my passport from him. I am afraid he will say something to harm me and I feel in too sensitive state to feel it“- I think that much more important than when you pick up your things, is that you do NOT go alone to his place/ to meet him. How about your roommate  going with you.. to get it over with, like she said, when the time is right for you?

    Hm, I had to re-read this out loud to myself to let it sink in. A weakness that comes from the habit formed in trying to compromise it (our crown chakras)  for a parent?“- in many cases, as in mine, a parent is the worst crown chakra predator (CCP)  one is to meet in a lifetime.

    Coming to think about it, N- the spider (to the fly,  shark (to the sea turtle), mountain lion (to the deer)- has been your CCP, hasn’t he? And that’s why you sped away from him, prey running away from predator: “I thought I saw him on the freeway today.. I feel like I saw a ghost. He was in the same exact truck as N… I sped ahead as to get a car between us. I truly thought it was him and my heart was beating so fast… it was long enough to scare me“.

    Maybe it is more accurate to say that he preyed on your heart chakra, making his way up to your crown chakra?

    I get invested in images… But it is true: the people we love, beginning with our parents, are (too often, in so many people’s lives) emotional predators, preying on the ones who love them. The part of us that loves them is the soft flesh they bite into. A sea turtle has a shell for that reason. We must be strong and wise in this strange world of ours.

    Good night amazing Seaturtle, be back to you in the morning.

    anita

    #426910
    anita
    Participant

    Dear Seaturtle:

    “Similarly I feel this way about getting my things from N. My roommate tells me to just get it over with. But I feel like I will know when is the right time.. Do you think this is true? wow as I asked this to you (and myself) I heard the title of my thread again ‘is it gut or fear‘ that does not feel it is quite the right time, or is it intuition or fear? Still hard for me to tell this difference..“-

    Wikipedia: “The word intuition comes from the Latin verb intueri translated as ‘consider’ or from the late middle English word intuit, ‘to contemplate’. <sup id=”cite_ref-Webster_dictionary_2-1″ class=”reference”></sup><sup id=”cite_ref-7″ class=”reference”></sup>Use of intuition is sometimes referred to as responding to a ‘gut feeling’ or ‘trusting your gut'”.

    Intuition/ gut means knowing something without considering or contemplating it.. you just KNOW it.

    You ended your original post on Oct 6, the day you chose the title of your thread, with: “Idk maybe we are perfect for each other and I am self sabotaging, or maybe its the inner voice of my higher self telling me it’s not right“-

    – I boldfaced what you referred to in your title as fear, and boldfaced+ italicized what you referred to as gut. What you had in mind back then as fear was the fear of making a mistake and letting a good man go. What you referred to as gut was the part of you that felt that he was not a good man for you.

    Fast forward 22 pages, 3 months and five days from the date of your original post to today, your gut is stronger but the fear that you are making a mistake and letting a good guy go still lingers. I think that not trusting one’s gut is a result of  emotional predation, what I started talking about yesterday: the emotional predator starting preying on your heart chakra making his way tup to your crown chakra, promoting fear and self-doubt and robbing you from trust in your gut.

    Emotional predators. com: “they claim to be the victim, usually of the person they’re in fact victimizing; they fake sincerity and make emotional displays to influence, intimidate, charm, disarm or seduce others; they pretend to be innocent and ignorant; they trap others in no-win binds where the other person is damned if they do and damned if they don’t…  they isolate and ‘gaslight’ their targets, eliciting in the targets unmerited guilt and doubt about their own sanity; they create havoc, confusion and chaos, and disrupt other people’s natural rhythms… they relentlessly manage their public image, often by omitting relevant facts (lying by omission).
    <p class=”has-text-color has-drop-cap has-dark-gray-color”>”All Emotional Predators hide, deceive and avoid. They conceal their true nature and objectives, presenting a false image, often very convincingly. They can’t be safely relied upon. They misdirect your attention away from what’s really important with words and deeds that rarely reflect the full truth. They lie by assertion and omission, for amusement and gain, or simply out of habit. They shift the topic when you try to talk about anything they don’t want to address. They avoid giving direct answers to simple questions or requests, and offer excuses and justifications, rather than change. Often there’s more accurate information in what an Emotional Predator does not say than in what he does say.</p>
    <p class=”has-text-color has-drop-cap has-dark-gray-color”>”The more you can commit these traits and behaviors to memory and recognize them in others, the better protected you’ll be. It takes repeated review and experiences to remember new information, so don’t worry if you forget. Books like Protecting Yourself from Emotional Predators are resources you can make notes in and refer back to as often as you need. And rest assured, an Emotional Predator will repeat her behaviors and traits many times.”</p>
    On July 29, in your first thread, you described N this way: “He is supportive, he encourages me to do what I LOVE. We are getting better at communication every day…willing to be a stay at home dad or be the bread winner, whatever I want!! He is truly a stand up man, he is so kind and deeply cares for those around him“- he presented himself as these things, his presentation was convincing as far as your family goes (“My family absolutely loves him”, July 29), but in your gut, you felt small and big disconnects in his presentations of himself as a stand up guy:

    “I don’t think we are soulmates…  I have been dealing with these small disconnects for a long time but they keep coming back to me. OR is this all just me running away from the most genuine and loving/caring/kind/PATIENT/ would-do-anything-for-me man ?????????????? I really have been having this entire debate in my head for a straight 6-8 months now” (July 29, 2023)- he presented himself in these ways but there were significant disconnects in his presentations that you couldn’t exactly put your finger on.

    Back to your yesterday’s first post: “There was a little voice in my head that wasn’t sure if he meant what he was saying. I wondered if it would lead to passive aggression, it lead to me feeling awkward when he did pay for things, such as dinner, park passes or at the grocery store checkout. It is almost like I could feel the energy a bit, but then his words said otherwise so I would ignore the energy I felt”-

    – WOW! I read the paragraph right above for the first time this late morning, AFTER writing about deceptive presentations of the emotional predator! His words didn’t fit his energy- you said it yourself. His words were not sincere.

    It was subtle, but I feel like I predicted him eventually admitting he felt a certain way, but I also hoped it wasn’t true and that his words were honest“- again, I am reading this for the first time: his words were not honest!

    His lack of expressing himself caused me to be on guard for something blowing up eventually. As it seems obvious to me that when you hide a feeling for so long it will eventually come out in a burst of energy… later he disregarded what he said, calling it a joke and so forth“- N is a dishonest man in the context of supposedly intimate relationships, the one with you.

    You can’t fix interpersonal dishonesty and you couldn’t have fixed it back when you lived with him. Even if you paid the whole rent and all utilities and expenses for the whole time you lived with him, he’d still be him.

    “I am more sensitive that anyone I have every met. For example, nicotine, it’s spiritual affects on me was enough for me to never be tempted into it again, even after lots of drinks on NYE when my roommate, M, was using one. I was tempted then remembered the affects on me and that was enough to release the pull on me. I asked her if she feels spiritually attacked in any way..”-

    – thoroughly understand and remember the affects N  has had on you and will continue to have on you if you go back to him (continuing to be emotionally attacked by an emotional predator), and it should be enough to release the pull he has on you. You will not be tempted to go back to him.

    “Her crown chakra is a little beaming light, I love it, I am smiling as I write this, so sweet”- I am smiling too as I read about your younger sister.

    “You see me Anita, it is something that gave me the strength to believe that there is something to see“- you want to be seen and so do I. We are willing to see what is inconvenient to see about ourselves, don’t we? We care about being honest with ourselves and with others for the purpose of seeing and being seen.

    N is not interested in being seen as he is, this is why he deceives.

    “Well then Anita I hope I have you for a long time to avoid that third condition”- I would like that! (big smile emoji).

    “Is little girl seaturtle the same as hatchling?”- yes.

    “Thank you for providing me your cannabis disorder research!”- you are welcome.

    “This reminds me of myself, I feel the consistent use alongside N, was beginning to cause me to have more anxiety than usual… I stopped doing it regularly with N because I noticed it causes me more anxiety… I think I was on the verge of developing cannabis use disorder myself..”- good thing you stopped.

    “– I didn’t understand the above “it prevented him from having dreams“- what kinds of dreams?”

    “He told me once or twice about a time in his life he had terrible sleep apnea and sleep paralysis. I think it is because of his football career… part of me admired his mental strength…”- problem is that his mental strength is rooted in interpersonal dishonesty, dishonesty with you. but remember, just as a broken clock is honest twice every 24 hours…

    “… I worried that he needed so many substances.., His use of weed in the morning, then coffee, then energy drinks plus nicotine for lunch, then he would get home and said he hadn’t eaten all day.. it physically aged him and mentally depleted him. He wasn’t always like this, it was more towards the last couple months of our relationship. Because in the first year of our relationship he quit a lot of these things..”- this made me feel empathy for him, and concern.

    “I wondered this before too, him saying he would stay home with kids if I wanted. At first I thought that was thoughtful of him to offer, to offer to support whatever I chose. But then I wondered about the weed and worried for future children that he wouldn’t attend to them properly, then lie and say everything went well..”-

    – best you can do is to not get back to him, including: to not bring children into a relationship with him, and to wish him well. Accept what you cannot change in life, and change what you can, as the Serenity Prayer says. You can’t change his past, who he has become, and who he will continue to be, getting worse, so it seems. It is very sad, but if you went back to him, you’d hurt yourself further, possibly bring children to get hurt… and all along not helping him at all.

    anita

    #426911
    anita
    Participant

    Re-submitting:

    Dear Seaturtle:

    “Similarly I feel this way about getting my things from N. My roommate tells me to just get it over with. But I feel like I will know when is the right time.. Do you think this is true? wow as I asked this to you (and myself) I heard the title of my thread again ‘is it gut or fear‘ that does not feel it is quite the right time, or is it intuition or fear? Still hard for me to tell this difference..“-

    Wikipedia: “The word intuition comes from the Latin verb intueri translated as ‘consider’ or from the late middle English word intuit, ‘to contemplate’. Use of intuition is sometimes referred to as responding to a ‘gut feeling’ or ‘trusting your gut’”.

    Intuition/ gut means knowing something without considering or contemplating it.. you just KNOW it.

    You ended your original post on Oct 6, the day you chose the title of your thread, with: “Idk maybe we are perfect for each other and I am self sabotaging, or maybe its the inner voice of my higher self telling me it’s not right“-

    – I boldfaced what you referred to in your title as fear, and boldfaced+ italicized what you referred to as gut. What you had in mind back then as fear was the fear of making a mistake and letting a good man go. What you referred to as gut was the part of you that felt that he was not a good man for you.

    Fast forward 22 pages, 3 months and five days from the date of your original post to today, your gut is stronger but the fear that you are making a mistake and letting a good guy go still lingers. I think that not trusting one’s gut is a result of  emotional predation, what I started talking about yesterday: the emotional predator starting preying on your heart chakra making his way tup to your crown chakra, promoting fear and self-doubt and robbing you from trust in your gut.

    Emotional predators. com: “they claim to be the victim, usually of the person they’re in fact victimizing; they fake sincerity and make emotional displays to influence, intimidate, charm, disarm or seduce others; they pretend to be innocent and ignorant; they trap others in no-win binds where the other person is damned if they do and damned if they don’t…  they isolate and ‘gaslight’ their targets, eliciting in the targets unmerited guilt and doubt about their own sanity; they create havoc, confusion and chaos, and disrupt other people’s natural rhythms… they relentlessly manage their public image, often by omitting relevant facts (lying by omission).

    ”All Emotional Predators hide, deceive and avoid. They conceal their true nature and objectives, presenting a false image, often very convincingly. They can’t be safely relied upon. They misdirect your attention away from what’s really important with words and deeds that rarely reflect the full truth. They lie by assertion and omission, for amusement and gain, or simply out of habit. They shift the topic when you try to talk about anything they don’t want to address. They avoid giving direct answers to simple questions or requests, and offer excuses and justifications, rather than change. Often there’s more accurate information in what an Emotional Predator does not say than in what he does say.

    ”The more you can commit these traits and behaviors to memory and recognize them in others, the better protected you’ll be. It takes repeated review and experiences to remember new information, so don’t worry if you forget. Books like Protecting Yourself from Emotional Predators are resources you can make notes in and refer back to as often as you need. And rest assured, an Emotional Predator will repeat her behaviors and traits many times.”

    On July 29, in your first thread, you described N this way: “He is supportive, he encourages me to do what I LOVE. We are getting better at communication every day…willing to be a stay at home dad or be the bread winner, whatever I want!! He is truly a stand up man, he is so kind and deeply cares for those around him“- he presented himself as these things, his presentation was convincing as far as your family goes (“My family absolutely loves him”, July 29), but in your gut, you felt small and big disconnects in his presentations of himself as a stand up guy:

    “I don’t think we are soulmates…  I have been dealing with these small disconnects for a long time but they keep coming back to me. OR is this all just me running away from the most genuine and loving/caring/kind/PATIENT/ would-do-anything-for-me man ?????????????? I really have been having this entire debate in my head for a straight 6-8 months now” (July 29, 2023)- he presented himself in these ways but there were significant disconnects in his presentations that you couldn’t exactly put your finger on.

    Back to your yesterday’s first post: “There was a little voice in my head that wasn’t sure if he meant what he was saying. I wondered if it would lead to passive aggression, it lead to me feeling awkward when he did pay for things, such as dinner, park passes or at the grocery store checkout. It is almost like I could feel the energy a bit, but then his words said otherwise so I would ignore the energy I felt”-

    – WOW! I read the paragraph right above for the first time this late morning, AFTER writing about deceptive presentations of the emotional predator! His words didn’t fit his energy- you said it yourself. His words were not sincere.

    It was subtle, but I feel like I predicted him eventually admitting he felt a certain way, but I also hoped it wasn’t true and that his words were honest“- again, I am reading this for the first time: his words were not honest!

    His lack of expressing himself caused me to be on guard for something blowing up eventually. As it seems obvious to me that when you hide a feeling for so long it will eventually come out in a burst of energy… later he disregarded what he said, calling it a joke and so forth“- N is a dishonest man in the context of supposedly intimate relationships, the one with you.

    You can’t fix interpersonal dishonesty and you couldn’t have fixed it back when you lived with him. Even if you paid the whole rent and all utilities and expenses for the whole time you lived with him, he’d still be him.

    “I am more sensitive that anyone I have every met. For example, nicotine, it’s spiritual affects on me was enough for me to never be tempted into it again, even after lots of drinks on NYE when my roommate, M, was using one. I was tempted then remembered the affects on me and that was enough to release the pull on me. I asked her if she feels spiritually attacked in any way..”-

    – thoroughly understand and remember the affects N  has had on you and will continue to have on you if you go back to him (continuing to be emotionally attacked by an emotional predator), and it should be enough to release the pull he has on you. You will not be tempted to go back to him.

    “Her crown chakra is a little beaming light, I love it, I am smiling as I write this, so sweet”- I am smiling too as I read about your younger sister.

    “You see me Anita, it is something that gave me the strength to believe that there is something to see“- you want to be seen and so do I. We are willing to see what is inconvenient to see about ourselves, don’t we? We care about being honest with ourselves and with others for the purpose of seeing and being seen.

    N is not interested in being seen as he is, this is why he deceives.

    “Well then Anita I hope I have you for a long time to avoid that third condition”- I would like that! (big smile emoji).

    “Is little girl seaturtle the same as hatchling?”- yes.

    “Thank you for providing me your cannabis disorder research!”- you are welcome.

    “This reminds me of myself, I feel the consistent use alongside N, was beginning to cause me to have more anxiety than usual… I stopped doing it regularly with N because I noticed it causes me more anxiety… I think I was on the verge of developing cannabis use disorder myself..”- good thing you stopped.

    “– I didn’t understand the above “it prevented him from having dreams“- what kinds of dreams?”

    “He told me once or twice about a time in his life he had terrible sleep apnea and sleep paralysis. I think it is because of his football career… part of me admired his mental strength…”- problem is that his mental strength is rooted in interpersonal dishonesty, dishonesty with you. but remember, just as a broken clock is honest twice every 24 hours…

    “… I worried that he needed so many substances.., His use of weed in the morning, then coffee, then energy drinks plus nicotine for lunch, then he would get home and said he hadn’t eaten all day.. it physically aged him and mentally depleted him. He wasn’t always like this, it was more towards the last couple months of our relationship. Because in the first year of our relationship he quit a lot of these things..”- this made me feel empathy for him, and concern.

    “I wondered this before too, him saying he would stay home with kids if I wanted. At first I thought that was thoughtful of him to offer, to offer to support whatever I chose. But then I wondered about the weed and worried for future children that he wouldn’t attend to them properly, then lie and say everything went well..”-

    – best you can do is to not get back to him, including: to not bring children into a relationship with him, and to wish him well. Accept what you cannot change in life, and change what you can, as the Serenity Prayer says. You can’t change his past, who he has become, and who he will continue to be, getting worse, so it seems. It is very sad, but if you went back to him, you’d hurt yourself further, possibly bring children to get hurt… and all along not helping him at all.

    anita

    #426927
    seaturtle
    Participant

    Dear Anita,

    “How about your roommate  going with you.. to get it over with, like she said, when the time is right for you?”

    That would be helpful, I feel like, to sort of buffer the energy, if she is willing. The big question is when, should I get it over with or wait for more time to be between us, for the emotional intensity to lessen. What if thinking I saw him in that truck behind me, and that heart stop feeling I had, was a sign that I wasn’t ready to see him yet.

    ” in many cases, as in mine, a parent is the worst crown chakra predator (CCP)  one is to meet in a lifetime.”

    Well this is a relief, and seems true as long as one doesn’t move backwards in growth and want to self sabotage, which clearly I am consciously trying to move the opposite direction. So it makes sense I will only get a better partner(s) in the future, because I am getting better.

    “Coming to think about it, N- the spider (to the fly,  shark (to the sea turtle), mountain lion (to the deer)- has been your CCP, hasn’t he?”

    Her certainly was a CCP, however he wasn’t worse than my father. I think actually that he was better than F, just enough to where I thought he was a good partner. Now I have a lot of relationship red flags that I know to look for, that I didn’t know to look for before/when I met N. All I knew were my dads red flags, the ones that I could see anyways. My dad had such extreme ones, for example:

    -when I lost my virginity, at 17, I naively told my mom trusting her when she said she would keep it between us. She told him of course. When I got home that night he literally told me “Do you know how much you’ve narrowed down your future partners by doing this?” He said more but that was the one phrase that I will always remember. I do not believe he would respond this way now, he has become more aware of society outside of his judgemental christian upbringing since then, also he is not one to talk about dating advice at all…

    -He treated me like I was a bad kid when I wasn’t. Just accused me of things I didn’t do, and judged my intentions behind pretty much everything. Didn’t see me at all.

    -As far as money went, with school/the car/medical things, he made approaching him so difficult, he was manipulative and held things over my head that shouldn’t be held over a child. He believed I was entitled for assuming the smallest things from a father.

    -He made fun of things I liked/ liked to do.

    Anyways, my point is, F was my worst CCP, believe it or not N was an upgrade from him, which is why I think I put him on a pedestal for so long. Ending things with N, was sort of like how I felt when I moved out of F’s house.. Things I do for me that I forgot about, and the things I was only doing for him to see… And for both of them, when I first left their home I released this enormous backpack of responsibility to wonder what they were thinking/feeling and how I could solve it (although with N it was how can we solve it, an upgrade cause he communicated more than my dad, not saying much but an upgrade can be small). When you wrote, “you sped away from him, prey running away from predator,” that is interesting, there is definitely part of my nervous system that sees him as a threat, is “afraid.” Although I am not sure how much this is wanting to run from a predator, versus not wanting to run into an ex ever, because of that gut wrenching awkwardness.

    Maybe it is more accurate to say that he preyed on your heart chakra, making his way up to your crown chakra?”

    I do have a big heart, I know this about myself. My ability to empathize can be too much, which is why I do not watch certain movies… N would judge me for this, he thought it was a weakness to not be able to stick it out, but I didn’t want to…and I didn’t have to for any good reason so why? My capacity to love is intense, I am very thoughtful when I love someone, this was something I wished to have in return from N. In gifts/date night ideas, honestly anything, as much as making my bed for me…something I always did for him because I knew it made him a little warmer inside that day. I couldn’t understand why he couldn’t do the little things for me too, then you just have two vibrating and warm heart chakras! amazing! but no, it was one sided, so yes in this way he was a predator to my heart chakra, mainly only taking from it. When I tried to bring it up, like “you know if you did …. it would mean SO much to me.” But he would then make me feel badly for even mentioning it, like I didn’t accept him the way he was…which I guess is what it was! Little did I know he literally didn’t know how, he wanted me to accept that he just “didn’t know how,” which I accepted as an excuse for a while until I realized he didn’t even want to try to learn, for me…that is true love.

    “The part of us that loves them is the soft flesh they bite into. A sea turtle has a shell for that reason. We must be strong and wise in this strange world of ours.”

    When I first sought therapy at 17, I thought I needed to vent about my mom, after she broke up the marriage, and was the more obvious wrong doer. But what caught me by surprise, was my several years in therapy were 80% about F. Those things I listed above, I believe I have healed from, at least a good amount. I have not truly dug into my mom, M, what her impact on me was… When I first read the bolded line above that you wrote, I thought of M. When I was home for Christmas, my sisters and I had a “Sister Disney Day,” planned, hahah our thing. Anyways my mom tried so many times to guilt us for it, She gets VERY possessive of our time around Christmas. Although she works every day, but two that she takes off for our Christmas eve and day with her. That disney day was not planned on one of those days, but she drank wine and literally cried about it to us. What I learned that night: I felt bad for her… but both of my younger sisters rolled their eyes at her… my youngest sister literally annoyed at her, being almost rude like telling her to stop it, actually not rude now that I think about it. M then went to bed,. I needed something from her room, but before I went up my youngest sister said “just don’t let her sway you.” I was like “what do you mean?” and she said “well you know mom usually convinces you to feel bad for her.” This was eye opening to me, was my mom emotionally manipulating me?? YES. I then went upstairs, keeping this mind, an ah-ha moment if you will. When I walked in she got very emotional (wine emotional). I was aware of her “tears” THE FAKE TEARS I HAVE WITNESSED! No wonder I believed N’s little tears were genuine, I have been tricked my whole life, been confused on how to spot real ones… I stayed strong and said “mom you know what we have had this planned it is not fair of you to be making us feel guilty about it,” I could tell she was surprised by my lack of empathy for her, she sort of snapped out of THAT manipulation tactic, and tried another one, trying to make me feel bad for her that she made us feel bad.. .Like she was then crying because she “felt bad” that we “thought” she was trying to guilt us. It was so eye opening, I saw it all with my third eye, just un-phased emotionally by her, yay! what a release. I got my things and left, saying a kind goodnight.

    I will respond to your next message in another response since this one seems long.

    Aware Seaturtle

    #426928
    seaturtle
    Participant

    Dear Anita,

    “Intuition/ gut means knowing something without considering or contemplating it.. you just KNOW it.”

    Well then my *intuition is that I will know when it is the right time 🙂

    “I think that not trusting one’s gut is a result of  emotional predation”

    Both of my parents were CCP’s, not sure who was worse but probably pretty equal. Then I upgraded to living with only F, saw my mom’s errors, removed her from the pedestal. Then I had only one CCP, compared to two. Then I upgraded to N, a CCP, but lesser of one than F. So I am swimming in the right direction. Hopefully all this “emotional predation” is making me stronger and not wearing me down.., what do you think?

    You quoted: Emotional predators. com: “they claim to be the victim, usually of the person they’re in fact victimizing; they fake sincerity and make emotional displays to influence, intimidate, charm, disarm or seduce others; they pretend to be innocent and ignorant; they trap others in no-win binds where the other person is damned if they do and damned if they don’t…  they isolate and ‘gaslight’ their targets, eliciting in the targets unmerited guilt and doubt about their own sanity; they create havoc, confusion and chaos, and disrupt other people’s natural rhythms… they relentlessly manage their public image, often by omitting relevant facts (lying by omission).

    As I was first reading this, “they…make emotional displays to influence…charm, disarm… others,” I thought of myself. I feel I behaved this way with F at times. When he would come to me with an issue he believed I had, it was often those moments that I conveniently decided to share something that would make him sympathize with me… For example, there were two pretty awful things my mom did, one being the last time she cheat on him and another time she did something harmful to me. Both times I revealed them to my dad they were in moments of him coming at me with something, the first time I had gotten in a car accident and tried to hide it (at 16) in order to protect my friend, who hit it. And also to protect my location, I was at a different place at the time than I said I was. When my dad confronted me about lying, we had a long conversation and as we were resolving it… actually pause on my theory here, because it was as my dad and I were having a moment of resolve and I felt closer to him that, that I felt obligated to tell him about my mom. I was going to say I used telling him to relinquish attention on what I had done… but now that I am writing it I think it was more that our resolve, apology and his forgiveness made me feel I owed him emotional honesty. Interesting. See when I first read your response (the one I bolded and quoted) I thought maybe I had been like that before, emotional displays to disarm… and I wasn’t “claim[ing] to be the victim…of the person [I was] in fact victimizing;”

    My confusion on emotional sincerity is literally making me question my own emotions, I do not want to be like my parents. The example my mom set for me was that when my dad was upset with her (for money or cheating) she would always cry, I think to disarm him. I wonder if this contributes to why confrontation with my dad was so hard when I lived there, I literally had to preface my confrontation to him with, “I will probably cry right now but they aren’t tears of sadness they just happen.” I wonder if my mom “insincerely” crying when my dad would confront her about real issues…. has something to with why I would have involuntary tears come to my face quite often when trying to have a confrontational talk with my dad. Less now, it has actually been years since I have had a real confrontation with him so I am not sure if this is still a bodily instinct.

    This theory evolved as I wrote it, interesting what I came up with though and I am curious what you think…

    I have another thought, you wrote “your gut is stronger but the fear that you are making a mistake and letting a good guy go still lingers.” I wonder if my original instinct to wonder if I was in the wrong, when reading your quote from emotional predators .com, above, was this fear still lingering..? It is just hard for me to accept that everything was N’s fault, that seems like a slippery slope, I must have done some bad too right? You know when you read information that is so one sided, and you wonder, well I wonder the other side of the story… I wonder this, the more one sided I present the relationship, as in he did the most wrong, then what is the other side of the story as to make it more reliable information… the self doubt here…

    ” They avoid giving direct answers to simple questions or requests…”

    Wow when I read this, it has N written all over it. This drove my crazy, I would ask the most direct and simple a question could be and he would act like I was speaking another language, it was infuriating actually.

    “Books like Protecting Yourself from Emotional Predators”

    I need this book.

    “he presented himself in these ways but there were significant disconnects in his presentations that you couldn’t exactly put your finger on.”

    Exactly.

    “His words didn’t fit his energy- you said it yourself. His words were not sincere.”

    I questioned his sincerity/ authenticity once, towards the end, and he was really offended. Another example of an emotional predator.

    “You can’t fix interpersonal dishonesty and you couldn’t have fixed it back when you lived with him. Even if you paid the whole rent and all utilities and expenses for the whole time you lived with him, he’d still be him.”

    Interesting here, because as I read this I noticed, there’s a part of me that doesn’t believe this… Because he said it! He made me feel that if I did those things he would be more available, emotionally. He said specifc things like this, I can’t remember exact words but just little comments that he would respect me more, have more to give me emotionally, if I brought home alot of money. It would even temporarily inspired me into thinking that is what I wanted, and feasible to me, but then in reality it was not what I really cared about.

    “– thoroughly understand and remember the affects N  has had on you and will continue to have on you if you go back to him (continuing to be emotionally attacked by an emotional predator), and it should be enough to release the pull he has on you. You will not be tempted to go back to him.”

    I like this!

    “We are willing to see what is inconvenient to see about ourselves, don’t we? We care about being honest with ourselves and with others for the purpose of seeing and being seen.”

    We do! I welcome constructive criticism, I want to see myself! I think a huge drive for me to be this way was constantly being told I was something (by F) that did not resonate with me. He showed me what I wasn’t and I didn’t like it and needed to prove to myself that wasn’t who I was, and to do so I had to learn to see me! I think this was my main drive to go to therapy, for another perspective on me and my relationship with F. I would ask her, please tell me if I am in the wrong her I want to see this correctly.

    N is not interested in being seen as he is, this is why he deceives.” 

    Wow. you are so right he was not interested in being seen, and I wanted to see him so badly, I thought If I tried hard enough I could…. wow.

    “problem is that his mental strength is rooted in interpersonal dishonesty”

    This is so tricky because he would say mental strength advice, and it felt useful to me, so I would then believe he is a good partner because he is providing me with things that are making me better. But then his mental strength being rooted in interpersonal dishonesty appeared in other ways, I didn’t see him as lacking mental strength, he lacked honesty which is like a liar giving you nutrition facts… the nutrition facts might be true, so in a nutritional conversation they appear very smart and honest, then they lie in other areas of life so it is harder to make the connection to their dishonesty, because they were honest sometimes. 

    “- this made me feel empathy for him, and concern.”

    It is certainly concerning (the substances he used and probably still uses). I gain empathy for it when I think about how his dad is an avid cannabis enthusiast/smoker, like literally always has a joint in his pocket hiding it from his wife, who pretends she doesn’t see it… a lifetime I certainly don’t want/afraid of when I saw his parents. I gain empathy for N when I think of his fathers example, offering N to smoke with him when he was only 14. so sad. Then also when he hired N, in 2020 after his football career ended, he hired him with an insulting wage and insane hours, when I met N he went to work at 10pm (he was in fiber optic installations, so it makes sense it was late, but it is the hours that were concerning.) he worked 10pm-5pm the next day! He worked 20 hour shifts back to back, he slept in his truck, all of this promoting substance use, like energy drinks and nicotine like his coworkers. Him putting himself through that was concerning to me, but I sort of rescued him, I showed him how ridiculous it was , he told me, after he quit that I am the one that got him out. He was in a loop and I showed genuine concern and showed him.

    “– best you can do is to not get back to him, including: to not bring children into a relationship with him, and to wish him well.”

    Are you saying to not wish him well? I think you are saying to wish him well but I just thought to ask haha.

     “Accept what you cannot change in life, and change what you can, as the Serenity Prayer says. You can’t change his past, who he has become, and who he will continue to be, getting worse, so it seems. It is very sad, but if you went back to him, you’d hurt yourself further, possibly bring children to get hurt… and all along not helping him at all.”

    I agree.

    Seaturtle

     

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