avena
Posts: 80
Joined: 12/4/2010 Status: offline
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I remember thinking many many years ago, how it was funny that the very thing I was trying to get away from could actually feel safe and comfortable. That's what made the bad days so bad for me. It made me seriously question my own sanity. As if 9 years of that crap wasn't enough, but to actually want to go back to it? It wasn't until someone pointed out that fear of the unknown was far more frightening than something bad that I had already learned to cope with that I was able to move past that. I made the choice not to be a coward, and that meant walking forward and never looking back. From what I can see from your last post, you're getting there. Don't give up. Like you, I made a whole slough of bad choices. There were red flags galore that I convinced myself I was misunderstanding or misinterpreting the situation...or, like you said, that 'I had made my bed and had to lie in it'. And it's funny how many people agreed with me on that. I made the choices I had made, so I had to deal with the consequences. And in the end, I did. I dealt with it, and have been dealing with it now, for almost as long as I was in the relationship to begin with. One of the things I've encountered repeatedly from other people is the attitude that it wasn't really abuse, or that I was enabling my own abuse by staying in that situation. A particular family member was rather vocal with these attitudes. It wasn't until I finally had enough and rounded on her and screamed at her that I wished that he'd hit me every time, rather than use the mental, emotional, and verbal abuse that were his trademarks...because then everyone would have been able to SEE the abuse...that she finally got it through her head that the most insidious part of this kind of abuse is exactly that...that no one sees it. So yes, you made bad choices. The important thing is to move forward and not repeat those bad choices. And I know, that's not always easy to do, but you have three reasons to keep trying. Unfortunately you have two children with him, so you're stuck with him in your life in some form, at least until they're 18. Don't let him use the kids against you, and don't let him use you against the kids. It's going to take a while and some very strong determination, but you WILL get to the point that you won't let him push you around anymore...as long as that's what you really want. My ex nearly had a seizure the first time I laughed at him when he tried to manipulate me over something to do with our daughter. I looked at him, and laughed because there was no way in hell that I was going to give him what he wanted, and he should have known. But I realized at that moment that he really didn't know. That he really did expect me to just give him whatever he wanted. And the thought that a grown man could be that much like a two year old made me laugh. And boy did that ever feel wonderful!! After that, it got a lot easier to say no and to resist the habit of just bowing to whatever he wanted. The next time you're having a bad day mentally kicking yourself for all the bad choices you made...or someone else is putting you down about those bad choices...remind yourself that you've made one hell of a good choice, and that was to get the hell out of that relationship. Count that as the starting point to a whole lot of new good choices.
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