My family disliked him as well, the brother I am closest to disliked him instantly and the ex AC always tried to stop me seeing him because of this. Took a few years mind. "We find great excuses to do a task in another room from our partner, become slow to return phone calls from a friend, or feel that we're just too busy to get together.". I could not bear to watch the dynamic as we all used to hang out together. The Lords prayer is helpful in learning how to do that because of the line forgive us our debts AS we forgive our debtorsSee? Letting go of grudges and bitterness can make way for improved health and peace of mind. Id be cutting my nose off to spite my face. Yeah, right. LavendarCheck in with your feelings and tell us what you think the answer is. I will never contact my mother again. I love this site, and you rock, ladies! My ex never took drugs, lazed around drinking beer in his undershirt and never even hit me. Yoghurt- Thank you. You'll soon start receiving the latest Mayo Clinic health information you requested in your inbox. I know that getting over this has to be an inside job for me and Im frustrated that I still feel stuck going on a year and a half. Im sure she doesnt know he overlapped us for many months at the least. Hes an ass. Dont take your first attempt. I am definitely tempted to do this! When you hold grudges, it is not possible to heal your emotional pain. I dont like to be around you. I sent a couple of texts telling him in effect what he did and that it was still not ok or forgotten. I have had an experience with a narcissist similar to what you described (charmed me completely, was successful, I felt we were compatible) and when I stuck to my boundaries and ended it, breaking NC afterwards was one of my biggest regrets. 2023 Copyright 2019 Reach Out Recovery, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If hes so happy with her why bother calling you?). Hes playing with your heart. But when he was on his own I told him (calmly!) He also said woe to the person who harms one of these little ones. (he said) In fact, he is already complaining about the amount of time he will have them (3 days a week) and says he doesnt want them so much. When you share your feelings and your legitimate feelings make another person defensive, you are not being blamed for holding a grudge. When the resentment persists, the grudge is still going strong.. Grudges are toxic to relationships. I have to say thanks to Natalies posts, and all your comments and support, I feel a whole lot stronger. I know its very common, people looking to connect when the corpse of their marriage is not yet cold heck, the marriage likely isnt even a corpse, more like on life support but the thought of stepping into that muck is so unappealing I just shake my head. A boundary is wiping that gum off, accepting the evidence that it was once there, but moving forward without that bump. Hes not stupid, and he knows Im protecting my heart. Sooner or later, your drug dealer comes around again You remember how you felt, and know it did you no good, only harm. Sending love and hugs your way. My point is that we have instincts we must follow whether it is about the guy or about our ability to be within the relationship or both. P.S. If we take a good hard look at where we have even reasonably decent relationships with people, romantic or otherwise, theyre not with people who rely on us having selective amnesia, who dont bear the responsibility for making right on something that theyve said theyll do after theyve erred, who dont keep trying to push the Reset Button, and who dont keep using the past as a weapon on us. . Needless to say, my brother, sister and I had far from an ideal childhood. Im struggling a lot with my self worth at the moment (even if rationally I know that it does not depend on him). The difference depends on your relationship and personality. And things are not black and white, people are complex, situations are complex (and a lot of information and detail is missing from my post, otherwise it would just be too long). It's impossible to ask for forgiveness from a person who hasn't. Well, I dont know if his red flags are as red as my exs so maybe Im not really seeing red Oh, you are seeing red and he even told you very directly that he has red flags. hes let you down a few times and it doesnt sound like he wants to talk. Very tired of relationships not working out and tired of being alone, having said that, as coutney pointed out, I do need to trust my instincts, too old not to and been around th eblock too many times to get involvled with nother man who is not right fo rme. I am still hurting from this user, one year after he got what he wanted and just disappeared. Hell, no! He just kept saying we could get together and talk. Needless to say, I did not return her call and havent spoken to her since. The Big Question: Will he try to get in contact with me? I was calm and polite as always. We were friends last year and then ended up in bed on new years eve and I was willing to try the relationship again, but he said he didn;t want to, that I destroyed his soul the last time we were in relationship, becasue I was honest with him about his behaviours. I appreciate your imput. What a bullet you dodged. In the end, I didnt go to the reunion. Youre mean to not want to go there. In: Integrative Medicine. She is pathetic. It feels so awful not to handle things well and to lose so much confidence. February 28th, 2023. When we hold a grudge, we. I was in the waiting room of my specialist when tht little gem arrived by text, & cut him cold. Its not fair to use another as a buffer to get over the ex as you will become a user and an AC. It is not acceptable that people can grow and learn from mistakes. Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic Press. Trust your gut on this one, and bail, then RUN! His niceness is just a front to get laid, unfortunately. This happened to me or similar. He had no answer to that so I walked away. We weigh in on the toxicity of those who don't understand boundaries and whether holding a grudge. Struggled with emotional unavailability, shady relationships, boundaries, or taking care of your needs? Irritability towards someone you're working to forgive is a barrier to overcoming a grudge.". . Your comment as presented reads to me that you are not really considering how all this may affect new guy. You dont have the reserves necessary to consider other people at this stage and this is understandable given what you are dealing with emotionally. The only emotion I have when I think of her is pity. Click here for an email preview. thts it. Then he offers you that diminishing relationship, proceeds to say well talk, then pulls away. We just cant take anymore! So she knows whats really going on. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. also, sending hugs and love your way. , look Im better than you because Ive forgiven you, you lowlife. He wants your forgiveness, which he probably interprets as you being okay with what he did. No mother its you. If youre unable to move forward without feeling embittered or angry when you think about the incident, then youre probably harboring a grudge. This of course prompts me to ask WTF and he tells me my friend and their son moved out in Sept. I kinda believe they dont want the nc so they can just check we have forgiven them so they feel validated to carry on their merry way.my ex doesnt even bother texting me but will reply to me if I text him. "Putting too much cream in the coffee or fighting over the TV remote can turn into a major blow-up due to the backlog of unresolved feelings in the relationship. I really have no feelings towards her at all. I go long periods of him not crossing my mind then bam, it hits,& I know I still have anger & disappointment towards him. I really do think he has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I have tried to be the bigger person, tried to put it behind me, but finally I have accepted my feelings and love myself for having the strength to protect what is important to me rather than contorting myself to please him. Silva RS, et al. Im the same. Knowing what sorts of things might mean that youre holding a grudge, even if you dont think you are, can help you figure out a way to move forward. Ill definitely remember that. teachable- As you know and have counseled people for yearstheres no making sense of nonsense. Once its over, be it a romance or a friendship, I dont want to be bothered anymore. Even the Bible says that we should freely forgive, but ONLY those who are repentant (i.e., are sorry for what theyve done and who DONT repeat the offending action). Its always uplifting for us all to hear stories of victory and healing. Ready If you had a proper relationship and he was basically a good egg i might say go ahead and have a talk. I intend to have an amicable relationship with him, for their sake, but in my heart I do not forgive him for how he treated me. If you allow negative feelings to crowd out positive feelings, you might find yourself swallowed up by bitterness or a sense of injustice. Seriously, I know I just have to continue my resumed NC as that is the adult way to demonstrate my values and boundaries. So you do. Its a broken world and there is no perfect answer to this messy situation, but a clean break is not more wrong than him messing with your head when there is no future. I feel awful at the moment and I dont want you or anyone else to even try to understand why. Thats very sad when we have to protect ourselves from a parent. PS Mymble I think being in this kind of relationship where we began to doubt ourselves, where we were with these nice passive aggressive guys is crazy making in very very sutble ways- I understand more of that now. Having gone through 30 days of NC with my neighbour who literally lives eight feet away from me, across the hall, I kept falling back into how much I must have hurt him by rejecting him. It has helped a lot, they make perfect sense, and confirm what I already believed. So I couldnt. What is interesting is that those who really love you and care for you, do understand and support your decision, respect your need for NC and dont do stuff like inviting him to parties where you are coming. I dont think he sounds like a good catch. And holding grudges may actually harm your health. 10 Signs That A Guy Wants You Just For Sex, Breaking Up With and Getting Over a Married/Attached Man, Overlappers: When they start a new relationship just before your breakup, Miss You, Miss You, Oops, But Im Not Getting Back With You: When Your Ex Says They Miss You But Youre Still Broken Up, Letting Go of a Relationship That Doesnt Exist, Uncover, unpack and declutter the emotional baggage thats holding you back in 5 short audio sessions, Get to know yourself on a deeper level and learn my simple yet powerful emotional decluttering methods, Put healthy boundaries in place and start being more of the person you really are. Because really, what can you feel guilty about or worried what they (ACs) think? So when I experienced that behavior towards myself, I would ask myself, what would you do if someone were treating your daughter that way. It also doesn't necessarily mean making up with the person who caused the harm. It brought back every bad feeling I ever had when I was a little girl. The strange thing is that we actually feel better when we stop pretending that we dont feel the way that we do or that we dont have needs, wants, and expectations. But, same thing happens, again and again. Hurt on top of more hurt, Mary, I would suggest not responding. "Often, we'll find ourselves avoiding someone that we have resentment or an unresolved issue with," Habash said. You need to handle this with as much clarity and dignity as you can muster, and you know whats best. Meaning: You won't forget what she did. It helps to train the mind and associate pain with the thought so hopefully you have less thoughts in the future. To move toward forgiveness, you might: Forgiveness can be hard, especially if the person who hurt you doesn't admit wrongdoing. Holy cow he just broke up with me 4 days prior you hope Im doing great???? I can hear him thinking How dare she be able to say goodbye, farewell! You do not want to go back to that way of life for nothing, because you know the damage it caused.