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New Beginnings :
Feeling a bit lost...

Topic is Sleeping.
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 overwhelmed2018 (original poster new member #69136) posted at 5:25 PM on Wednesday, April 1st, 2020

Hi all, been a minute since I've posted, but I've finally really began to move on and need advice.

The quick and dirty version of my situation (you can see more in my posts, if you're wanting more): In 2018 a lack of communication, and what I eventually realized was an emotional affair, led to my break-up with my significant other of 6 years. I tried to reconcile before I was aware he had also physically cheated on me, and when I found out he had, I still decided to try to give it a chance. Through a series of bad choices of giving him FAR too many chances, partially induced by a lot of major changes in my life that led me to seek out the closeness we once had, I finally realized I needed to cut him out completely. I have not spoken to him since December of 2019.

In the meantime, I've had moments of feeling okay and had a few dates here and there, but never really felt ready for a real relationship. I moved to a new place last August (part of the life changes that led me to seek out the closeness), but before that, I decided to try dating apps. Where I live is remote, so any chance of dating was most likely going to stem from dating outside the box, so to speak. I spoke for a while with one guy I really hit it off with, but sometimes he'd go a week or more without responding and never progressed to an actual in-person date. Ultimately, I realized I wasn't ready to date anyway and I deleted the apps.

Fast-forward to the realization that I needed to cut my ex out completely, and I felt so much better once I did. I realized it was a false hope I was clinging to. There was absolutely nothing left there--we were texting buddies and he caused me more stress than anything else, so once he was gone, I became aware I actually WAS ready to move on. I was in a great place, feeling better than I had in a long time. Re-downloaded the apps, and because remote place, I re-matched with the guy I had hit it off with in August. We once again had great convos, and this time set a date to meet in-person.

We've now been dating for 3 months! He's truly great in so many ways, but for the first time since everything happened, I am realizing the true, long-lasting damage done by my ex's infidelity as I try to establish a healthy, new relationship. My new partner has his own personal set of hauntings from his past, which unfortunately makes it that much harder.

Hang in there, please, this is going to be long! To begin with, my current guy is amazing at staying in touch. We live a few hours apart because of the remote location that we live, but we have literally talked on the phone every single night since our first date, and usually video chat. He isn't great at texting, but I've been able to forgive that given we catch up via phone every night. The most we've gone without seeing each other has been a couple weeks, which was completely doable. At the very beginning, there was one day where he didn't respond right away and didn't call until very late, and it sent me into a panic attack but I was able to work myself out of it and we had a conversation about it the next time I saw him. He was very understanding, apologized for not being great at texting, but it felt good to get it out in the open (prior to that convo, he knew my past relationship had ended due to infidelity, but not the finer details of it all).

However, most recently, I've started to get more paranoid and have more triggers. This is where thoughts/advice would be amazing...

To begin with, he is very close with his ex. They broke up due to living in different states with different life goals, but stayed friends because it wasn't a vicious/ugly end. He was very open about this right off the bat, which is why I really didn't feel like I needed to worry and although it scared me a bit because of my past, I reassured myself that he's been so open. She's in another state -- he could have quite easily not told me about her. She lives in the town where his house is, though, and he goes back there to do repairs/fix things every so often. However, I recently found out that he was the one to end it, and she apparently took a lot of "beating it over the head" to get it through that there is nothing physical there anymore. This was, of course, concerning to me as someone who had been cheated on, but deep down I don't believe he'd cheat, at least based on where we're at. And again, he was the one to tell me this about her. But I've also begun to get the feeling he has not told her about us, and maybe doesn't intend to. He made a comment about going on the trip down there alone because it didn't feel right to wave his new woman in her face, or something to that extent.

He's also not always the most willing to open up about more personal things. I understand his past has been rough, and this is still new, so I don't expect an outpouring of his whole life story in one night! And he DOES tell me things here and there, so it isn't as if he doesn't confide in me at all. But a major event happened and I told him he could talk to me about things, that I was there to help him, and his response was that his life has made him good at dealing with things on his own. My last relationship's lack of communication was largely due to my ex not wanting to talk about feelings and put that burden on me, so this ended up being a trigger. To me, a partner should be able to be someone you can lean on when times are tough and you need to talk and share the burdens of life. I'm so torn here because this is so new. With time, I think maybe he'd open up...but maybe not, and this has scared me. I just can't help but wonder, if I HADN'T been cheated on and treated the way my ex treat me, would it even bother me that he has things he isn't ready to discuss with me? I don't think it would.

And similarly, he's felt more distant lately, but apparently he's had a lot of triggers for his haunting past lately. He told me that and told me he likes to just be alone and get lost in his work during those triggers, which I can understand. I just have had a hard time convincing myself that the reason he's felt more distant is because he's going through those times, not that he's pulling away and is going to leave me. I was extra-triggered the other day and actually ended up in tears after we went to bed. He noticed something was up and asked, and was reassuring that he wasn't going anywhere and said he understood that the smallest thing can be a trigger, but my anxiety then just drove me to think "Great, now he likely thinks I'm even crazier and is going to run as fast as he can!" even though NOTHING he has sad or done when I have a trigger should have led me to think that. Similarly, although he has never belittled my past, I can't help but feel like it is a silly reason to get so upset when I know some of the trauma he has been through.

Sorry for the long post. I just don't want to lose someone who I mesh SO well with all because he is the first real relationship I've had since the infidelity, and I can't seem to overcome some of my anxiety or even begin to think about how to process some of it. He and I have similar life goals. We both don't want marriage or children, we both want to travel and love to cook, we both value communication and kindness and all of the other same things. He's just so incredible, and my mind is getting so much in the way. Any and all advice would be GREATLY appreciated.

posts: 25   ·   registered: Dec. 15th, 2018
id 8528223
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Okokok ( member #56594) posted at 9:26 PM on Wednesday, April 1st, 2020

Hi, chiming in here because I'm just coming off a similar thing. Also my first real relationship since infidelity (check out my posts from about a month ago).

My now exGF also had very friendly non-boundaries with some exes. We were also long-distance (1.5hrs). She also had this tendency to pull away and be distant/detached (google "avoidant attachment style" and see if that resonates at all with you).

Now, we had been dating for close to 2.5 years. But for the last 9 months or so, radar was on fire and my triggers were through the roof. I wasn't able to easily process, but I was in a torturous place.

I tried to communicate my issues several times. Ended up being shut down, fighting, avoided, or made to feel crazy/stupid/creepy.

In the end, it turned out I was right: she was way over my boundaries in a number of ways. I can't prove infidelity, and we're completely NC/blocked now, but I can prove at the very least that she crossed reasonable boundaries with other men during the months I was suffering, lied/half-truthed me, and I was suffering because of the boundary-breaking and the corresponding words/behaviors of a partner who was at minimum dabbling in the world of other men.

My big takeaway from this (along with my knowledge from my marriage) is that *I should have trusted my gut*. I even posted months prior with some concerns, sort of just like you are here.

Three months really isn't a long time. And I know for sure you can't go another 3, 6, 12, whatever months feeling the way you are. So my advice would be to really map out what your boundaries, needs, and expectations are from this guy and in this relationship. What do you really, really need to feel healthy and happy?

Then: if he can't or won't provide those things, what then? You need an answer for yourself.

My $0.02.

[This message edited by Okokok at 4:22 PM, April 1st (Wednesday)]

Erstwhile BH and BBF. Always healing.

Divorced dad with little kids.

posts: 1265   ·   registered: Dec. 29th, 2016   ·   location: Massachusetts
id 8528294
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deena04 ( member #41741) posted at 3:49 AM on Monday, April 13th, 2020

It is OK to have boundaries. It is definitely OK to trust your gut. Maybe make a list of pros and cons or reasons it’s good versus concerns. I am a list girl and find that helps me to see things clearly and make decisions.

Me FBS 40s, Him XWS older than me (lovemywife4ever), D, He cheated before M, forgot to tell me. I’m free and loving life.

posts: 3340   ·   registered: Dec. 22nd, 2013   ·   location: Midwest
id 8531812
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thatbpguy ( member #58540) posted at 4:55 PM on Monday, April 13th, 2020

Sounds to me this is a "just friends" person. His boundaries seem soft and easy to cross.

ME: BH Her: WW DDay 1, R; DDay 2, R; DDay 3, I left; Divorced Remarried to a wonderful woman

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." C.S. Lewis

As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly...

posts: 4480   ·   registered: May. 2nd, 2017   ·   location: Vancouver, WA
id 8531888
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Marz ( member #60895) posted at 5:09 PM on Monday, April 13th, 2020

To begin with, he is very close with his ex.

No one wants an x in the mix. You can’t fix that.

I’d move on

posts: 6791   ·   registered: Oct. 3rd, 2017
id 8531895
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CoderMom ( member #66033) posted at 3:36 AM on Friday, May 1st, 2020

It's called baggage carried in from previous relationships that has not been properly dealt with. I have it from 2 horrible marriages and it does affect new relationships. I am not able to trust that they are not going to hurt me like the previous husbands, but I so desperately want to be loved that I try to make things work. I am seeking counseling to try and work through my relationship issues.

posts: 356   ·   registered: Aug. 31st, 2018   ·   location: Eastern States
id 8537814
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Hedwig ( member #74175) posted at 10:07 PM on Tuesday, May 5th, 2020

Hey overwhelmed2018, I think you should trust what your gut tells you. If you want someone who is able to talk about their issues with you, then you deserve that person and shouldn't settle for less. You shouldn't have to convince yourself that it's okay that he doesn't do that. Your experience with infidelity makes you more sensitive to red flags, so trust that. The whole story about him going over there and not wanting to flaunt his new woman in front of his ex sounds fishy to me. I would want to be with a guy who 1.) Doesn't have an x in the mix. 2.) Would give two shits about the feelings of another woman when introducing me, unless it's his granny, maybe :p

Dday - 10/2018
Caught them, EMDR helped
Ended the relationship after false R for 1,5 years

posts: 271   ·   registered: Apr. 8th, 2020
id 8539436
Topic is Sleeping.
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