not feeling so good...

redsirenn

New member
I met Ouroboros's other interest this weekend. I spent Friday night over there, and all day Sunday with them on the river. She is still in town until Tuesday evening.

I realized I don't really have a problem with jealousy, which is great. However, I still feel incredibly uncomfortable. I thought about this for a while and realized that I just don't feel like I am treated as "special." He treats me well, but all day Sunday I felt some distance and could not pin it down. I have always known that if this was going to work, that it would require more than the usual compassion, affection, etc., than in a monogamous relationship, because the people involved need to FEEL involved.

I brought this up briefly last night, because she was still around, but only mentioned that he seemed distant. He responded by saying that it was time for a check-in regarding our relationship, and that he still feels uncomfortable with the bf/gf situation we currently have.

I have no idea why, and to be honest, it is driving me a little bonkers. To top it off, I am alone this week, as ALL of my friends are out of town. Normally, I could quell fears by hanging out with them and distracting myself. But I cannot today.

I told myself before she got here there were things I wanted to see, actions of his I was going to pay attention to. I am saddened because I do not think he is doing his best to help all of us feel comfortable and wanted.

I am not a needy person, in fact, quite the opposite. I know there are others that I may not even know yet that will fulfill all my desires. Because of this, I have the confidence to move on, if I need to. BUT, I don't know what to do here.

Do I talk to him now and give him a chance to act on things before she leaves, or wait patiently until Tuesday evening?
 
How is he acting with her? Is he treating her more "special"? Does she seem as uncomfortable? Maybe, as much as he wants this, he is just as uncomfortable with the situation as you are. Maybe he doesn't know how to act with both of you there and is afraid of jealousy and insecurity. Can you get some time alone with him to talk about this, without taking time from him and her, or the three of you together? I would talk to him if I got the chance. But I'd probably wait it out if there was no way to get him alone, but tell him we needed to talk asap when she left.
 
Hi,

I just talked with him for a bit on the phone. Apparently he is confused, as well. Neither of us have ever gone down this road, and we have our own insecurities and fears. He is worried that I will change my mind and decide not to explore polyamory; I am worried that he will try to rush me.

We didn't have much time, and will get together after she leaves to talk some more. Although not everything was brought out from under the rug, we both felt a little better knowing that our fears were not justified.

I will update this once I talk with him. Thanks for your help. I cannot tell you how much the people on here have helped me process this stuff.

-RS
 
I need some advice on how to get past this uncomfortable feeling. I have thought about it for a bit, and it is the fear of loss, for sure. I am worried that when Ouroboros and she begin to get more involved, he will leave. He said he has no plans to leave. They have not yet explored anything physically. I can't stop worrying, though.

The thing is, that if it were not another woman (if we ended because of incompatibility reasons), I really would not be as hurt.

Please, any advice is welcome! I really don't know how to process this. I know all the rational facts, but my feelings are otherwise.
 
Red,

There's only one way to get right to the heart of a matter like this one. You've got to let him go.

Did your stomach sink when you read those words?

When I said, "You've got to let him go," I didn't mean that you've gotta end the relationship. What I meant was that you should drop the unconscious or semi-conscious (or whatever) belief that your joy, happiness, self-worth or self-esteem, etc. depend on whether or not he will ever abandon you for another -- or otherwise leave you or this world.

You're not going to drop that, however, unless you first see it clearly and find it to be false, and this is only very partially an intellectual endeavor. It's mainly a feeling endeavor, and can only be approached moment by moment... by moment... by moment... In other words, right now. That's all we've ever really got, right now. Our right now is where we construct the habits, emotional or conceptual, that conspire to determine how our lives go.

Every relationship should best begin with letting the other go, because when we cling, and that clinging causes fear, resentment, etc., it always messes up all that is good in these relationships. Clinging and grasping have exactly the opposite effect of insuring that the other will stick around in a loving, joyous, beautiful sort of way.

The irony is that letting go is probably the only and best way to keep the ones we love around.
 
Thanks, J. I read that post several times. I couldn't agree more.

I have a question for you all. Maybe you can help me with this. I am discovering that our relationship is developing in the way I had hoped, and could not be happier, but I have this fear of the future. The what-ifs, you know? What if he leaves me for someone else, what if this relationship is a bad idea for someone who has gone through a divorce AND a rape? I am sensitive to these things, and definitely do not want to purposely place myself in a bad situation. Everything else about this relationship is great at the moment – great sex, open communication, friendship, honesty, fun, chemistry, respect.

Any advice from someone that has had similar experiences in the past?

What in this is me trying to overcome social conditioning? And, is this a natural part of overcoming this, if so? Or should I listen to these fears more seriously?

When do you decide to pay attention to what the future might hold, instead of focusing on the present, even if the present is good? Do you ever?

As you can see, I am confused... again.

If Mono is reading, I would like some input from you, too. Thanks!
 
Everything else about this relationship is great at the moment – great sex, open communication, friendship, honesty, fun, chemistry, respect...

On another thread, there has been talk about "security" in relation to commitment in lover-ly relationships. As I was reading that, I was thinking that while seeking certain kinds of "security" in lover-ly relationships is valid enough, and understandable enough, we humans are typically a fair bit confused as to what sort of security we can or should expect to find in our lover-ly relationships. What's realistic?

If already there is "great sex, open communication, friendship, honesty, fun, chemistry, respect... at the moment," my goodness, there's about as much legitimate security in that as one could ever hope for!

The key is what moment you are in.

The key is what moment you are in.

The key is what moment you are in.

I repeat this because this is the moment, right NOW, here and now, where the seed of the future can be nourished with your own lovingkindness and mindfulness. And the best way to nourish that seed is to let the future go. It's really none of your business. Rather, the seed of the future (which is now) is your business -- along with this infinite present moment, in all of its changes.

The surest way to poison future NOW moments is to wrap the present moment in anxiety about them. This also poisons the now moment. The anxiety that goes along the lines of "What if X leaves me?!" or, "What if X suddenly dies in a fiery plane wreck/cancer/meteor shower?" What does that fear/worry anxiety do? It makes us pull away, contract. We then fear giving our best or our all to X, because already X is abandoning us, in our imaginations. Our feared imaginings take over and poison the quality of our relating with X, and that has an affect -- and the affect may be just what we fear most: distance, rather than closeness with X!

Yes, the future needs attending to, of course! Yes, planning and thinking of the future is necessary, to some extent, in appropriate and realistic ways. But if it is joy and happiness you want, attend primarily to now. Now is quite obviously all you have in time, the whole of it. The future belongs to itself, along with the past, but your purchase on existence and reality is ... right now. And then now again. And -- LOOK! -- it's still now.

And now again.
 
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Hello again.

I know that this is true. This is something I repeated to myself frequently for a while... but I must have forgotten. I think I needed someone to remind me of this.

Thanks again for the wonderful insight. Freedom to be yourself and not feel judged in a relationship is a beautiful thing. That is something I want, and want to give to others.
 
We all need reminding, myself no less than any other.
 
I agree that living in the moment is important, especially if you are to enjoy yourself, but one needs to live every moment with the end result in mind. Perhaps there is something that is left unanswered for you, or that you feel unsure about. When Mono wrote the thread he did about this some time ago, he was trying to live in the moment because of uncommunicated issues that I had to drag out of him. He had misunderstood, or didn't understand something, and instead of voicing it, bottled it up and got scared and paranoid, which lead to his living in the moment and not thinking about the future. Once it was all out in the open, there was a huge shift and we all enjoyed the moment much more because we were all thinking about our continued happiness and future building.

I'm not saying that this is the case for you, but worth thinking about, maybe? If it isn't, I totally know what you mean, although I don't think about bad stuff coming up. It's more like, "How could this possibly feel so natural and right? How could I possibly be in this situation and feel so at home and whole?"
 
Yes, caring for the future is important. But it is just important to remind ourselves, frequently, that we neither do nor can live in the future -- for as soon as the future arrives it is is the present: now. The future is always arriving as the next moment, and yet the only moment we really have is now. And now again.

What we think and do in the present puts a spin on how things unfold into the future nows. We can catch ourselves in the act of putting that spin on things when we notice the pattern or habits of thought we're enacting. If we're having a lot of thoughts of, "What if he leaves (abandons) me?" and we look into that, we may notice that, for example, we had the same tendency last time we were involved in a lover-ly relationship.

If we look even more, we may remember some sort of abandonment we experienced as children. If we continue to look, we may realize that our whole posture to things in life is about trying to keep ourselves from being abandoned, and that our unaddressed abandonment trauma keeps us from enjoying our relationships in the present.

So isn't it interesting that by paying even closer attention to the present we can begin to liberate ourselves from the habits of our past -- and thereby cultivate a happier future, mainly by attending to now?
 
Hi Redpepper,

I think it is somewhat like that. It is all based on fear... Fear of loss, in some way, and the fear that if he knows this is "temporary," then I do not want to invest so much.

The thing is, we cannot promise that we will be together forever. For one, it is simply too soon. I can't say that to him either. I do not even know if I want that yet. And really, we are enjoying ourselves. This is something I do not want to run away from, even if it were temporary, at the moment, anyway.

So, It is a bit irrational. He said that he can promise that he will be honest with me, and that he does want to keep seeing me.

In my marriage, I had the promise of forever, but not the promise of honesty. And the forever was a lie, so I really had nothing. Ironic.

I hate to compare this to that horrible relationship, but I can't help it sometimes.

My friend said, "If you compare all your future relationships to your marriage, you will ALWAYS sell yourself short, even if they are light-years better." Yes, she was right on. Sad, but true.
 
It is all based on fear... fear of loss in some way. Also, the fear that if he knows this is "temporary" then I do not want to invest so much.

Everything is temporary. Nothing at all lasts forever. People die. They end romantic relationships. Things are always changing, and nothing can stop this constant change from doing what it will.

Some relationships hold together for decades, even lifetimes. But they all end, if not prior to death, then at death.

When you embrace that fact unflinchingly, without turning away, you can liberate your heart from the fear of loss, which may keep you from opening to the fullness of the sharing of love in the only time you have: now.

since feeling is first
e.e. cummings

since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you ....

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~richie/poetry/html/poem162.html
 
I had the promise of forever, but not the promise of honesty.

Well, isn't that just hitting the nail on the head of what the problem with marriage is? I think "honesty" should be added to those vows that are handed to us, because for some reason we think we can't make our own.

I'm so glad I didn't say those when I married my husband, because they really do sink in somehow and have meaning. We made our own and still stick to them. "Honesty" was amongst the words, I believe, as we were poly back then, too.

Maybe you could make your own vows about this whole thing, something along the lines of, "I will vow to stay true to myself and my boundaries. I will take care to not become so involved that I don't leave a path to the future that is my own and no one else's. I will live in the moment, while keeping the future in mind. I will nurture what I am creating, stay open to change, growth, self care and love. I will be honest and willing to let go of jealousy, fear, and any past experience that could taint what I have today."

Any, all or whatever works for you, could be very powerful in making yourself feel content with things where they are and where you are going. This kind of thing helps me on a daily basis, as I tend to get wrapped up in things that I have no control over and have nothing to do with me.
 
"I will vow to stay true to myself and my boundaries. I will take care to not become so involved that I don't leave a path to the future that is my own and no one elses. I will live in the moment, while keeping the future in mind. I will nurture what I am creating, stay open to change, growth, self care and love. I will be honest and willing to let go of jealousy, fear, and any past experience that could taint what I have today."

.

Wow, were these your wedding vows?
 
I just wanted to say that this was a great post, and it helped me a lot to read it. I know that my situation is close to yours. In fact, I feel a lot of fear. I am losing my fear, but it is a very slow process. It is frustrating. I wish you the best!
 
I think those fears of the future can arise any time there are major life changes going on. I'm currently unemployed and I have to go a couple of rounds daily with fears of an uncertain future. Changes in major relationships bring on the same sort of thing.

One thing I've found that helps is to create scenarios for both good and ill. Think of the good ways that the future could play out and feel how good that would be. Then think of how bad things could play out, and then how you would get past the bad stuff and how good that would feel.

In other words, figure out how to arrive at a good place, regardless of what happens.

[I'm really stressed about the job search, so I think I need to do more of this.]
 
I think those fears of the future can arise any time there are major life changes going on.

Absolutely. I have a second child on the way and am recently unemployed due to the pregnancy. I worry about stress, money, space, not being able to give my 100% to the husband and both kids, let alone ever have another relationship. But I know that as time goes on it will all settle into its own natural rhythm. And then I won't even remember what I was so worried about. (I hope. ;) )
 
stressed

I have read a lot of these threads, especially Redpepper's. I have a lot of trouble dealing with the stress of feeling like I live with such a huge secret. How do people deal with this?
 
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