Quote:
Originally Posted by Open Eyes
Well, you had been in a relationship where you believed you found the right person to settle down with. You WANTED things to work out and were willing to forgive and support that individual in finding his way forward. You invested your time and your money only to end up being let down and crushed. That kind of experience takes time to grieve and it's something most people have a hard time with. Something like that also creates self doubt in questioning your own ability to judge etc. and trust yourself. It's actually normal to see things you missed "after" you have distanced from someone for a while too. You have been talking and learning and gaining more knowledge and in that you can see more and it's only normal you would have moments where you would review what you experienced that ended up hurting you. We are designed to think back on something we navigated through that presented us with challenges, it's part of how we are designed as we really are born navigators and problem solvers. We are designed to draw on our life experiences as we move forward in our lives.
I spent years working with a lot of children and I taught them privately and one thing I learned is they are all different. Some children are fearless and very outgoing while other children are timid and careful and more insecure and some are quiet while they are taking in something new and it isn't until they have had time to mull something over that they begin to talk about it too. Unfortunately, a lot of children are told "don't let that bother you, don't feel afraid, don't feel sad, when in reality what that child really needs to learn is "what" these feelings actually mean.
Honestly, one thing I had noticed in dealing with so many different children is the ones that often struggled the most were the ones who's parents were therapists and psychiatrists and teachers. Too "controlling" and often even worse when it came to helping their children learn how to understand their emotions. Often the problem came from "perfectionism" that was more about the parent thinking they had all the answers and they did not allow their child to come up with their own way of looking at things and even feeling about things.
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Funny, my dad is a psychiatrist who wouldn’t allow me to have upset feelings. My emotions were always wrong, I was always wrong to have certain emotions and I was not allowed to feel. I developed an eating disorder and ate through my emotions then threw up to get rid of them. Ugh. I never was allowed to be angry either. Nice huh? So I never learned regulation and I never learned how to deal with my feelings as a kid.
I think with my ex, I keep having new revelations as I move forward. Like, now I am thankful that he walked away from me, or else I may have clung on for several more months trying to make it work and ruining myself in the meantime. He did me a huge favor by cutting me loose, and now I see it that way. His extreme cruelty towards me in the end gave me no choice but to walk away fully and not cling on. It was a blessing. I needed to let go and he allowed me to. That was a gift. My own neediness bothers me but that’s where I was at the time. Needy. And now I see the whole relationship as a big mistake on my part. Probably the biggest mistake of my entire life. But I have to accept that. The perfectionist in me struggles with that. Yes, he let me down immensely. That was a rough crash landing and wake up call. But I disappointed myself most of all. I let myself down.
So I made a vast mistake, I exercised poor judgement and I was emotionally needy. I have to forgive myself and have self compassion for where I was at that time. I want to work with my therapist on that part.