NuevaVida
Posts: 6707
Joined: 8/5/2008 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Asherscorp1 I was simply relating this the other day and was told that it seems unfair and unreasonable for him to have to step in for me when I should be able to deal with my own emotions. I don't see it this way, I see it as, if he can do that why wouldn't he since it makes everyone's life easier in the end? However, the more I considered it the more I wondered. Do other slaves have this sort of understanding or dynamic? Or does it actually reek of unfair emotional manipulation and I fail to see it because I am the one benefitting from it? Is there a pattern of him having to step in? Maybe he's tired of it? In my own dynamic, there is an expectation that I won't lose my cool about things, because it's never gotten to the point of slamming doors, etc., with me. When I'm upset, I have quieter ways of working through it. So a precedent has been set - I'll deal with putting myself back in place, and if I'm struggling then I'll ask for his help OR he'll step in on his own. It's not a common occurrence, though, so he's perfectly OK with stepping in. He wouldn't find it manipulative, particularly if I'm outright asking. He can always say no, if he's not up to it. There is not, as you put it in your OP, an "expectation" that he will step in, nor is it his job to. He can if he wants. He won't if he doesn't want to. It would be unfair of me to expect him to pull me out of my funk if he also had a bad day. I think the difference between yours and my relationships is that you take your mood cues from him, and I manage my own moods. But to answer your question: "if he can do that why wouldn't he since it makes everyone's life easier in the end?" In my case, he wouldn't if it was too burdensome for him on a particular day. He wouldn't if he felt I'd be better off learning to stabilize myself. He wouldn't if it was happening so frequently it was becoming exhausting for him to do so. He wouldn't if he felt I wasn't trying to help myself first, and instead just falling on him to bail me out all the time. And probably a bunch of other reasons. That said, he does like when I lean on him, but if he feels I'm not trying to help myself first, he's going to say something about it.
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