CreativeDominant -> RE: boundaries (3/26/2008 8:00:34 AM)
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ORIGINAL: hissweetbella Thank you AquaticSub, CreativeDominant, Maestro66babycak, and Sassysexygirl. i have tried to be patient the last two months, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking perhaps something is stressing him, but i don't believe for one moment that is actually the case. He has said himself, every single time this has happened, that he wanted to call, knew he should call, but knew he had "screwed up" (his words, not mine) and knew it was silly but was afraid to call because he thought i would blow up. i have NEVER blown up at him. i have never raised my voice to him or expressed my anger in anything other than a calm, gentle voice -- and then immediately let it go. i have never met anyone who avoids confrontation as he does, and i'm not sure where it comes from. His explanation is that it is because his last girlfriend was so violent. Seems to me it would have to go much deeper than that, though. Is this passive agressive behavior? Not that it would make a difference either way, but it would be nice to begin to understand why he does this. CreativeDominant, you said to not mention the behavior. Is that not like accepting the behavior? Maybe i just have an idealistic view, but i still have hope that we can work this out. He went a long time without doing this. Then again, maybe he is just losing interest, despite everything he says? No, i have made sure i don't come across as needy or clingy. He has complained a few times after we first started seeing each other that he wanted me to call more often and tell him i miss him and love him more often. i just told him i am an old-fashioned girl and prefer that he calls me when he wants to talk, and then make sure i am receptive and happy to hear from him. i've also started telling him i love him and miss him more, but not overboard in any way. Hope this helps to clarify things. CreativeDominant, you said to not mention the behavior. Is that not like accepting the behavior? Maybe i just have an idealistic view, but i still have hope that we can work this out. He went a long time without doing this. ***No...actually, it is different. When you combine not contacting him along with only taking HIS calls and responding to HIS mails along with not mentioning the behavior EACH TIME you speak with him, he will either get the idea or he won't. Speaking as a man...and as a dominant...most of us do not take kindly to being reminded each and every time we speak with someone that we are fucking up. And, to look at it even more objectively...he claims to be an adult dominant. With his own issues of course but I am one of those who tends to think that I should let My past issues clarify and light the way for My own...hopefully improved...behavior this time around. You have already told him he is fucking up. He knows it. You're not mentioning it BUT giving it a wait and see period in which you are not the one doing the pursuing, you are not the one doing all the work of contact, you giving him the chance to pursue and show the interest he has said he feels and which you have told him you need will give you a clearer picture of how much he really wants to meet your NEED...not your wants, but your NEED. If he does not follow through, then beating him over the head with it is not going to work. And...if you choose to allow it to continue for a long enough time...and only you can decide how long a trial you will give it...then you HAVE accepted the behavior and in all honesty, at that point, you have SUBMITTED to it. In terms of losing interest...unfortunately, that is exactly the way that some people handle that oh so sticky issue of lost/losing interest...by protesting that they are interested and apologizing for the behavior and then continuing said behavior. ***Of course he wants to hear "I love you...I need you...I miss you". It strokes the male ego to hear these things from the women in our lives. Hell, it strokes most partner's egos to hear that. But here comes MY opinion...a good man not only wants to hear it but knows he has a responsibility to make sure his girl knows that he feels the same, UNLESS he has made it clear from the very start that he is not an openly expressionistic type of person. But...if he had done that at the start, you probably would have asked him "Can we get past that? Because if we can't, I can't be in a relationship with you. I need to hear it as much...if not more so...than you." It happens, sadly...with women too. I have broken off relationships...both friendly and of a romantic nature...in which I felt that I was the one doing the majority of the work. And yeah, sometimes the work is the contact.
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