Dating – Page 11 – Brilliant Distraction

Relationships are hard

I sit here. I am trying to put together the last 7 days and just don’t know what to say. The last two weeks were so dramatically different. My relationship is experiencing growing pains. For equality’s sake, should I really be saying “our relationship”? Probably. I feel that the “hiccup” (his word) in our relationship last weekend shows me that we both need to learn about thinking about the feelings of the other person. I learned to be aware of personal and emotional space. Give certain people room with out barraging them with questions or in-your-face-closeness. Maybe this will work with the young, the shy, the introverted… I learned to stand up for myself and know that I am okay with him or by myself.All by myself. I can want him, but I don’t need him to feel complete. These seem to be the lessons I keep needing to learn. I hate that. So frustrating. Fuck. I would be lying though if I felt that I could just recover in an hour as I confidently posted last week. I felt like I did when I posted last week; I was being as truthful as I could have been back then. 7 long days ago. When he texted me an apology on Sunday, I realized how much I liked him. Is there some language that has a word between like and love? I have been learning French this year and when the cool app tells me to translate “j’aime”, I say “I love” and it tells me that it means “I like”, but then later I am asked to translate “I love” and I clearly am stumped now; the answer is “j’aime”. What?? How can the French so casually intermix the two. Way too confusing. When I go to Paris, I am certainly going to investigate this. But I digress.

Then Tuesday, I saw him and shared about this on a post on November 2. I know that I felt the same as he did when he shared his sentiments. I was a wimp and couldn’t say it back. For one, I was scared of the same thing happening and getting blindsided again, in any near future. Secondly, I did not think it would mean as much if it was just parroted back. Depending on what happens in a few days (our next date is Tuesday), I want to share with him today. This is a huge risk. I am so scared. I haven’t felt this way since my ex-husband. Yeah, and we know how that turned out. I am sure I have said that before, perhaps. It bears saying again, because its been a long assed six years. It was this time six years ago, I came back from Florida with nothing. I rebuilt my life. Slowly. And now this. This reminds me that things worth having are hard. Relationships are hard. I don’t want to sabotage this. I can only pray he doesn’t want to either.

This weekend is the seven day reminder of hime ending things for a 24 hour period (what he calls the hiccup). Tuesday, he assured me that we should not be starting over as we have gotten this far. At that point, we were together a month and two days. Assuring me that he does, in fact, want me to be a part of his life (with his kids). I want this too. I am terrified of getting my heart broken. It was almost there last week. I am not sure I can take it again. I think for sure I wouldn’t have another break up in me (with him). I doubt he knows this. In the spirit of positive thinking, I will not be mentioning this. But with all my experiences, I am trying to be positive and hopeful, and end up feeling all pragmatic and cynical . That sucks. I am so close to having a truly wonderful thing. I MUST NOT SABOTAGE. I know anything could happen today. I realize that he could cancel our date today. He had a horrible crappy day Friday and Saturday, when I saw him, he was sick and who knows what he will feel like today. So, I am fine with things not being perfect, I was a bit bummed to not hear fun nice things all day. But authentic relationships are like lie. We have bad days, we get sick, we feel sad (as I have this weekend with my memories that I posted yesterday). When he got off the phone with me so abruptly when someone was knocking at his door Friday night, I felt this doom. I can not allow the negative feelings he had yesterday to be about me. Saturday was okay and nice to know that hopefully we can get through the imperfect awkward days (of one of of being sick or not feeling tip-top). But this is really hard to do when he ended things just 7 days ago. This is the insecurity that absolutely SUCKS. I am working towards holding the lessons learned to heart….So hard to do.

Slowly. I will learn to trust again. Trust him to be strong and understand me and trust myself to keep a calm and still heart.

With a very heavy heart…

To the loving mom of my first love,

This is so very hard to write, but as I was writing my letter of heart-felt loss to your son, I realized it is really you I need to reach. I am glad he was able to tell me about your health before now, so that I was able to reach out to you once more. I regret deeply that I haven’t reached out more often since then. And now, this is my only chance. And still, too late. I want to thank you for everything. Everything you have been since I met you more than a half a life time ago. Yes, do you remember? I was barely 20 years old. I did not have a driver’s license, so I think I came up there by bus. I remember so much. Some of the finer points are a bit fuzzy, but I remember the important things and many of the little details.

I want to thank you, but when I want to let you know I haven’t forgotten all the little things, it doesn’t seem so eloquent in a long drawn out paragraph. Perhaps a list will get the point across in some way. I know you were somewhat private about your health toward the end, so I am making this thank you note anonymous. Perhaps that doesn’t much matter now, but it is a mitzvah in your rememberence . I want to learn how it feels to grieve someone so wonderful who is not related to me by blood/legal family. I want to learn how it feels to lose that deeply. I wish it was written to someone else. I wish the lessons of grief and loss weren’t because you had to leave all of us way too soon.. I have always known I had to learn things the hard way. I can’t just read a big old book on Elizabeth Kubler-Ross on death and the five stages of grief and just “get it”.

Someone like you had to come along and show me unconditional love with an open heart and open door to your home to show me it wouldn’t be easy. When I first met you, in my early 20’s, I was just beginning my life. I was learning about everything in books. I met your son at some crazy party and he brought me up north to meet you and your husband and other son. You made me great food and always had soda and fun snacks (these were fun facts for a young woman who did not have soda and chips at any time for the taking!). I ate with paper napkins. I saw a cross hung in your kitchen. Until then, I had never seen an actual cross in any home. You opened my eyes that people live different lives than the ones in my little Beltway Bubble. I am eternally grateful for those little things, the paper napkins, the cross on the wall, the marriage and intact family you offered. So, without going further, there’s just too many things for a run-on sentence or long-lost paragraph, so here’s your list:

Thank you for:

showing me different religions and paths simply by showing me your cross in the kitchen.
letting me eat with paper napkins
inviting me each and every time into your home
showing me a loving intact family (being from a child of divorce)
making me chicken pot pie that was more like a soup
always having food and soda and fun snacks
always making sure I was taken care of at your home
when I arrived all shaky after driving into the median on a highway and calling with a quarter from a payphone, you made sure I got to your place safely
showing me that no matter what, you can always love people who aren’t in your immediate family.
showing me that when people make other choices with their, there’s no need to judge.
having your first son so that I could know what that innocent first love is all about and of course, thank you for raising your sons so well so that I could even have this letter to write.
supporting us in our choices to consider other places to live and letting me take him across the country to start the next chapter of my life with him.
letting me be a part of your life tangentially (Facebook, holiday cards) even after my life with your son was over.
being unforgettable.
teaching me a lesson in grief of parent loss before I have to experience this with my own parents. It sounds so selfish, but I am telling you really how selfless you are and you didn’t even know it!

I am sure I am missing so much over the past 27 years that I have known you. I know paper napkins and crosses seem trivial to you, but they are not. They show me how people live amazing, but different lives than the one I lived up to that point. It taught me tolerance at a young age, when I did not have much experience in much at all for that matter. In a time of feeling immortal when I was young, I am all grown up now and very much in touch with our mortality. Thank you for showing me what counts.

You are so special. I am listening to Adele’s ’21’ as I wrote this. I am not sure if you ever listened to her, but it’s what I chose.

Thank you..

–

Wait for it….wait for it….

And there it is! So in my last post, I described the absolutely lightning speed recovery from a month-long relationship. I was somewhat blindsided by some of the guy’s break up speech, but was kind of aware of the insecurity (because of course, I felt it). I had a great Sunday morning and got to the Bronco’s game. By the end of my brat and diet coke lunch, came the second shock of my weekend. HE TEXTED.AN APOLOGY. Yes, people would certainly say, calling is better. However, being at the game, I was totally fine with the text amidst the loud noises in our amazing seats! He admitted “you were right” and said he was sorry. He did NOT end the apology with a ‘but’ trailed by anything else negating the apology’s authenticity. He didn’t defend his awful behavior Saturday. He just apologized. Well, I was floored. But there is still work to be done. Words are cheap. They were words I have not heard often, if ever, from a guy I was dating. The words of “you were right”. We texted a bit more and he said he’d like to start over and admitted we went too fast , but he’d like to make that right as well.

So the next day, I sent one text of three words (I remember the text issue and plan to stick with small amounts of texting conversation, even with his apology). He texted back and we made a plan to play it by ear for Monday. I never saw him, but as it was Halloween, he had kid obligations. I went down south to spend time with my friend and her family, and he texted me later that evening.

Tuesday morning he texted me first and we sent a few texts. I was very surprised he wanted to come for dinner when I invited him over. Last night was quite amazing.He apologized in person again. To my face. He and I talked and talked. And talked. He told me that he felt like an asshole and said that either Saturday night or Sunday before he texted me, he realized “he was falling for this woman and just pushed her away”. He told me then he definitely wanted me to be a party of his life (and his kids). We talked about spending more time together and strengthening our relationship. We discussed honesty. We discussed spending time with the kids once our relationship feels stronger. It was already getting stronger, just getting back to where we were, and then some.

I never imagined this would happen. I thought I was totally fine with out him. I think I realized that while I don’t need someone to feel whole, I did actually miss him a ton. Even just 24 hours taught me to keep true to me. To continue to work on me. No matter what. I do think that will be part of my success in all this.

So yes, I waited for something I didn’t even know was coming and that was pretty incredible. A first for me (a true apology with admission of wrong doing). I hope there are a lot of other awesome firsts. I think I could be falling for him also.

Scary. I will wait for the next time. As patiently as I can.

Oddly enough…

Oddly enough, the new relationship came to a screeching and abrupt end on Saturday around noon. Apparently, my insecurity was too much for him. “We went too fast,” he said. Hell, I could have told you that. As well as the overbearing physical closeness and over-texting. Funny, though, he had no problem with physical closeness and being thisclose our first night getting to know each other. That’s when the going too fast part started. At the very very beginning. Before there was a beginning. And oddly enough, after the first hour of venting to a friend, I was feeling much better already…an hour? Okay, so if I am seriously feeling much better in an hour’s time of talking to a friend, then how heavy of a loss was it? I mean, yeah, I was upset when he told me today and in the aftermath of texting with a friend. An hour later, and I am over it? Maybe the relief of not stressing about texts or calls that never come.

I learned a few things about myself. That’s huge. I think anytime we can be what self-improvement is in order till I practice my imperfections. That’s the key to being open-minded though. We have to actually be willing to see those imperfections and have the volition to make positive changes. There’s the rub! We have to actually do something to effect change so that the disaster was not in vain.The disaster was just a tool to greater self awareness and a new improved you!

Two steps back

This week perfectly sucked. It certainly hasn’t been the suckiest week ever. Is that even a word? Probably not. Does not matter. It describes my week just that way.

I have taken a few steps backward in my mental and physical health. I ate crap and did not exercise. The lack of a proper diet and lack of exercise set me up for poor sleep hygiene. I owe it to myself to be kinder to my body; nothing and no one is worth ruining what I worked so hard to build for myself. I am pretty disappointed. I am hoping I can get a good power walk in after a nice birthday brunch with my good friend.

I am feeling torn between the virtue of patience and knowing this relationship is worth a bit of struggle with scheduling and the idea that I am worth it. That he is also frustrated and wants me to be a priority, but yet, the situation is just hard of him as well. I think I need to figure out whether I am entitled to know this? Is it normal that we just don’t know this? That this is the risk, the not knowing if it’s all worth it, that we just don’t know what we are getting into? If we are not “all in”, is it even worth it? I am an “all in” person. I am also a person that likes a plan, likes the intention. I am working on the healthy balance. I can be intense and I know it. I need to shed the insecurity.

Have a good weekend & let me know your thoughts!

To The Max!

Max is my amazing puggle. I want him to be recognized for the amazing, intuitive, caring and hilariously spoiled pup that he is. He licks my wounds when they are bleeding (sounds gross, but it’s very sweet), he licks my tears (I know, they’re salty!), and he sleeps touching me every night…….. He’s mine and I am in love!

Stripped…

I am just going to go and say it, straight up: I was inspired by the last lines of the last episode of season six, part two of Sex and the City. Carrie talks about all of the relationships we have. But, then she says the most important relationship we have is the one we have with ourselves.

I think the relationship we have with ourselves is one of the hardest we could ever hope to grow and mature, because we can’t hide from ourselves. Sure, we can try. We can hide behind our Paige jeans, that grad school degree, very decent wages, hot pizza, alcohol and/or drugs, (good, bad and Prince-style) sex, and hell, I guess we can even hide behind our successes and failures. But, really, all that is really background noise.

I feel that the more I have, the more I can try to hide behind. I am successful, I finally fit into real skinny jeans for the first time in a really long time, and I have a decent share of intellect. I feel that all that is stripped when emotions take over. Intellectually, I know NO material things are very useful armor when that insane insecurity possesses every fiber of strength I thought I had. And, I also know the distance between my head and heart is unbearably long. It is really fucking frustrating. Seriously. So much progress, so much building up of what I had lost right after my divorce. 5.5 years of reattaining the things I lost. I was strong. I had things. I got back on my feet with an apartment in a decent place, a nice bed again, weight loss when I was ready to eat well, new hobbies and passions and a bit of self-confidence, I thought. It only takes a new and real relationship to check the quality of my relationship with myself.

So there’s still work to be done. I hate, no….I loathe, knowing everything I attained to create security means nothing when I realize those are just THINGS.

What a reality check when you realize how stripped you can be when self-love is tested. Because really we have to love ourselves always. Not just when someone else does or when we love “things” or people we surround ourselves with.

Just a question: How long did it take you to lose the insecurity that caught you off guard?

and P.S.: Yes, I was listening to Stripped by Depeche Mode while I was writing this post. How did you know? One of my favorite albums, Black Celebration came out in 1986; I was in the UK that summer.I think that summer and the music I took back across the pond changed me forever. Tonight, I listen to it, transported back to 1986 in London. The summer I met Andrew McCarthy (and have a picture to show for it). When I find it, I’ll post it!

PPS: Tangentially speaking, Andrew McCarthy had just made one of my favorite movies of that time, St. Elmo’s Fire a year before, in 1985.

Great Expectations

Armed with my incredible friends, experts in different areas of life and death, I am learning to ask for help in the arena of managing expectations.

I have always felt that the low hanging fruit were now behind me. I have started to feel that by setting the bar high is good, I was exuding higher self-esteem, standards, expectations (job, hair, clothes, income, car, housing, really ridiculous….). I began elevating the standards so high, that it almost became impossible for me not to be disappointed. And putting a list on paper really became my downfall. I started judging everyone from the get go.

Until this guy I am dating now. I was immediately attracted to him and we got along great. My stupid mental checklist didn’t exclude the big things: honesty, integrity, character, but it also required the absurd and superficial components. They disappeared when I met this guy. Period. End of story.

So, advance 2-3 weeks: We were perhaps moving too fast (planning a getaway); I started out so well, minimizing and managing expectations that were really unreasonable to begin with (the mental list). Then my ego snuck back in. The ego started developing a different version of a mental list. This list described what I wanted to hear or thought I needed to hear at certain times.This is NEVER GOOD. NEVER. EVER. GOOD. Yes, we can expect a modicum of respect and honor, but if the honesty and integrity are there, I have to ask myself, what else do I absolutely need to hear, on my time, no less? This insight comes directly courtesy of one of those great friends with experiences I have not yet gained. When saying I am patient, I need to mean it.Then when the things I want to hear are said, I am hearing them from a truly honest place, not a place based enabling my insecurities.

Have I sabotaged myself? When he told me this morning I was being insecure (though the circumstance was a bit unusual and the source of my insecurity very specific), I had not had time to process the origin of my insecurity, but I owned it because it was the truth. I felt insecure, but it was not until later did I realize how situation specific it was. My insecurity started earlier in the week. I told him that I didn’t deny the insecure feelings lately and thought we needed some more time alone together (which he agreed) to get back to the really good real conversations we had in the first 1-2 weeks. He agreed. emotional intimacy is what I want and I think he agrees, even though we did not quite title it that way exactly. When it was time to go home this morning, I told him it would be great to see him in a few days and I couldn’t wait (sentiment he usually returned). He said nothing other than “see you then” with a kiss and I left for home. I texted him a brief bit later to mention something trivial and “have a great day!”. No word. So no more texting, no more insecurity. I know my self-worth. I know I am intelligent, caring, intense, big-hearted, intuitive, sensitive and trusting. Right this minute, I am trying to recover from this transient insecurity.

How do you manage expectations? Do you remain hopeful, but some how have some incredible skill for removing the expectation from the hope of an outcome? Or is hope or wishful thinking just a euphemism for “setting up expectations”? How is that you achieve that balance?

Leave a comment and thank you in advance for your input!

Have a great week everyone!

Hold on…

I guess I am going to sit tight, fasten my seatbelt and have some faith. I am going to stop questioning every thing. I am going to make myself sick. Exhausted. Done.

I am going to hold on for a nice calm ride on a roller coaster that stays level.

Hold on to security, stability, sanity, but not so tight that you will lose it all.

Know what I am saying?

Conquering the mole hills

So I need to stop conquering the mole hills like they were the mighty Colorado mountains. Why do I seek out discord where there is none? Am I so conditioned to be attuned to the ever so loud thump of the other shoe falling that I can’t listen to the incredible music all around me? I need to stop it. Right now. I have come across one of the best things to happen to me and I feel so scared. It’s the littlest things I am making into a big ordeal. I wish I could reason this out. Is there was some obvious reason for turning nothing into something? I know I am abnormally sensitive. I know I am really intense. I feel these things to my core. Sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I am blessed for these attributes.

I don’t want to mess this up. I have been through the frogs, the toads, the venomous scorpions. I have survived the unpredictability of a raging alcoholic. I deserve goodness. I have to keep repeating this. Everyday. Until I actually believe it. Every single day.

Have you ever had to remind yourself of the goodness that you so deserve? Did it work? Can you actualize goodness just by finally believing it?

Please share your experience.
Thanks and have an amazing evening!