DADT...I'm poly, he's not.....HALP!

[letgo]

Hello all. New to the forum and glad to be here. = )

I keep running into the same struggle:

I want and need an open relationship.

Boyfriend does not....says it makes him "miserable"!

Back and forth, etc, ad nauseum.

We have been going out for seven years and I intend to marry him when the financial situation is right. I want to be with him for life, and will do just about anything to make this relationship work.

He is "naturally monogamous" and I am "naturally poly" if you know what I mean....

I have told him I feel like I simply can't feel right doing monogamy (and I've tried!), he feels the same way about poly... Even though I know he'd probably like to sleep with other people given the chance....He just thinks its more important not to hurt my feelings. He apparently doesn't believe in compersion.

We are currently in a long distance relationship since September--before that we saw each other every day. Now I see him about once a month....It will be like this at least for another few months.

I have cheated on him before, and he found out, and there have been times I cheated on him and he didn't find out. This is no good, is wrong in my eyes, and I really regret it.

We came to a compromise of having an open relationship. I could see other people, as long as they weren't mutual friends of ours, sex was safe, kept BF as my primary, and as long as he didn't have to know anything about my other relationships.

We started making a compromise like that a few years ago.... But naturally I couldn't just hide my relationships with other people. He always finds out, even if I don't bring it up.... I don't "rub it in his face" but he finds out....Hope I'm making sense here! For instance I was dating another man this summer. My BF figured it out and was insanely jealous. I decided my BFs feelings were too important and ended the relationship (which had its other problems anyway, so I'm glad it's over).

After summer, come September, BF moved away because of school. And we came to the same compromise we had before.... We could see other people in a DADT sort of policy. Which, btw I hate!! I would rather be totally open about who I'm seeing and who he's seeing, but I have to compromise on this matter.

Well just this week a friend of mine made out with me and he wants to see me again.... Well I texted my boyfriend and told him my intentions to see another person, and asked for permission to see another person.

I really shouldn't have done that because we agreed to DADT....

But DADT just feels so wrong and messy to me. I don't tell my BF any intimate details and never have. I just feel like he should have the final say in whether I get to see people or not. That way he feels in control and knows I'm there for him, knows he's the most important person in my life. Well he knows I am pretty miserable about being totally monogamous so he has granted me permission. He was really pissed that I brought it up at all. And he said he will never ever be cool with me seeing other people, even with his permission he thinks its cheating.

Can you see why I am frustrated? = p

I told him I'm gonna hold off on seeing this guy until we come to a conclusive compromise. Which unfortunately can't be total monogamy for me, because I simply can't do that. Does anyone else know how I feel? I am willing to compromise and sacrifice so much. But that's one thing.... If I'm not poly, I think I'd just be a cheater or a swinger or permanently single. I try to let my BF know its not about him or how attractive he is or how rich he is or anything....He could be Johnny Depp and I'd still want to see other people! I really don't know what to do. I told my BF we should come to a compromise that will make us both a little miserable, because it doesn't seem like we can come to a compromise that will make either of us happy!... He thinks I am losing nothing with our current compromise and that he is the miserable one and that I am just totally happy about it.

Please, please advise! I don't know what to do and this is so frustrating. I wish my BF would feel different about the whole thing....he wishes the same thing about me....Any feedback is welcome, and if you have had any similar experiences I would especially love to hear about it.

Thanks. Hope to hear your thoughts soon.

[FitChick]

I'm sorry you're having such a rough time. My bf's last relationship ended because his mono gf could not get her head around the concept of being poly,she terrorized me(as his new gf) and his secondary and in the end he walked away from her. Maybe you are fighting a losing battle,you both deserve to be happy and if he is truly mono and can't bear to share you with anyone else,then you may need to go your separate ways. I just see a whole lot of red flags,the first one being him giving his 'permission' for you to see other people,are you truly happy to let him control that aspect of you? If it's going to make you both miserable,why bother? Can you really see either of you making the significant emotional and intellectual adjustments required to keep your relationship alive?

[letgo]

<<I just see a whole lot of red flags,the first one being him giving his 'permission' for you to see other people,are you truly happy to let him control that aspect of you?>>

Yes, actually I asked specifically for his permission in this instance.

<<If it's going to make you both miserable,why bother?>>

The benefits of this relationship far outweigh the struggles, by far! That's why I want to try to work this out.

<<Can you really see either of you making the significant emotional and intellectual adjustments required to keep your relationship alive?>>

Well that is still up in the air. I want to try...

[MonoVCPHG]

Originally Posted by letgo

We have been going out for seven years and I intend to marry him when the financial situation is right. I want to be with him for life, and will do just about anything to make this relationship work.

If your boyfriend is mono and can't embrace the idea of you with someone else, marraige is not something to go into lightly. His mono desire to be exclusive will likely be amplified by marriage. Marriage probably won't make him feel more secure in your relationship but it will likely make him feel more entitled to you being exclusive with him. I'm not totally talking out of my ass. I'm mono, in love with a poly woman who is married and it works beautifully. Trying to put myself in the position of being her husband is a different story....just be careful with that.

Originally Posted by letgo

I told my BF we should come to a compromise that will make us both a little miserable, because it doesn't seem like we can come to a compromise that will make either of us happy!... He thinks I am losing nothing with our current compromise and that he is the miserable one and that I am just totally happy about it. .

Why settle for good when you could both achieve great? I don't mean to sound defeatist but why not find people who better suit your natures?

I hope you find both find happiness in this regardless of what this looks like but I also hope you don't rush into anything that will potentially make things

[Jodi]

do you think he will change? maybe it's worth seeing a couples counselor to sort it out, but i'd try to find one that is not predjudiced against polyamory.

it must be frustrating for you. you are trying to set up guidlines that you can both agree on....if you think he'll come around, it's worth continuing. if not, i would try to remain seperate for awhile so that you can both think things through, before getting married.

what is it that you love about him? u don't have to answer, but really think about it. also, what are the deal breakers in a relationship for you? are you willing to give up a poly lifestyle? is he willing to be mono?

i hope that you both can be happy with whatever you decide.

[redpepper]

To me this man is not marriage material as it stands right now. I think if I were in your position I would be looking for someone else to take a primary role in my life. This man could make a nice secondary if he was willing, but I would be thinking of marrying someone else. That is if he doesn't do some major work with you.

Normally I don't subscribe to primary/secondary, but time quanities and investment. I wouldn't be investing too much or looking for quantities of time with him as he doesn't get poly, doesn't seem to want to and isn't interested in looking at his jealousy or the pain he feels to find a positive way in it. We all feel jealousy at some points, at least most of us do, but looking at it and working through it makes one stronger and more apt at dealing with it. He doesn't sound interested or wants to avoid his feelings. Its just not possible for the long haul or for a married relationship not to look at ones shit, poly or not. Stuff comes up and if it isn't dealt with in a timely fashion, then it ends relationships. You have the advantage of *knowing* a huge bit of shit before getting married, that is a gift. He is not accepting this gift of knowledge and to me its a tell tale sign if he is unwilling to work on it. Other issues will be no different. He likely won't want to deal with other shit either.

Life is hard work, marriage is hard work, poly is hard work, work is hard work. We all need to get on it and push fear aside. The larger issue to me seems to be that he is not dealing with his fear. If I were you I would be addressing it as such and if he still doesn't deal, then I'd move on.

What are you asking him permission for? Does he own you? Is he the one that rules over you? I don't think so. You do. I understand that you want to be respectful, but you are creating disrespect from him about your nature. I think you should stand firm and tell him who you are dating and let him know you love him. Stay firm with what you need, do what you say you will do, give him the same kind of information each time and stick with your expression of love. You cheated, he doesn't trust you, and why should he. Stay confident and consistent and that will change in time I think or it will be evident that it just won't work between you and him. All this with much love and care.

DADT is a cop out way of avoiding real issues a lot of the time I have found. Its an *open* way of doing things, but I haven't known it to work for the long haul in terms of deepening and stengthening relationships. Relationships naturally want to become deeper and more connected, its part of human nature to do so or they end. He seems to be good at avoiding or not dealing with your polyness so challenge him on it or you will never, in my opinion, have a deeper or more connected relationship and really isn't that what you would want for a marriage?

Make him face stuff and see what he's made of. The time is now no? After all you plan to marry him, if he is the man for you would he not rise to the occasion and give your relationship everything he's got? Rather than avoid?

[redpepper]

you might want to do a bit of reading on here you and him... there are a lot of really great threads you can find in the stickies and tags that would answer some questions perhaps... do a tag search for jealousy for starters maybe.