Well, maybe not an idiot but you get the point. Why is it that everyone you date doesn’t seem to have their crap together? Why do you go from person to person to person always finding something wrong with them? Or every relationship you start either goes up in flames or sinks like a ship? For whatever reason there just doesn’t seem to be any reprieve and the last person you dated was worse than the last! Your friends and family are beginning to think you will be eternally single and you think that there will never be the RIGHT person!! Let’s look at that for a moment…..who IS the RIGHT person and why can’t you meet them?
How many of you meet a guy or a girl and everything seems alright until about the third date? Then, after that you seem to find something wrong with them; some habit, their style, the way they chew their food, etc. Or, you think it’s a good idea to talk about meeting your parents and what are their thoughts on marriage? I used to be the kind of person that dated losers. Every guy was worse off than the last; no car, no job, and riding a friend’s couch. My dad would cringe every time he opened the door and see some long-haired, unemployed, guy without a hope in the world. I dated men who hurt me, abused me, lied to me, stole from me..You know the story. The only thing I didn’t have happen was get a venereal disease or get pregnant. No wait, I lied, I did and actually had a miscarriage.
I thought that was as good as I could do, I didn’t feel like I was worthy of dating anyone better. I didn’t feel very good about myself inside, and I didn’t look good on the outside. My outer appearance affected my inner turmoil. I was either angry all the time or heavily intoxicated. I just couldn’t seem to pull it or myself together. I just felt so hopeless, and so desperate to have someone love me I looked in all the wrong places and went with just about any guy. I thought that if someone loved me then everything would be ok. I just wanted someone to make me feel better.
My poor choice in men began when I was a teenager. I dated a guy who lied to me and cheated on me. He cheated because he could…and all the girls loved him and he knew it. I stayed with him for a few years because I believed somewhere in my demented head that he loved me too and if I were just BETTER than I currently was he would stop cheating and be happy with me. I made his cheating problem all about me. I internalized his need for infidelity and made it about myself. Sound familiar? I did everything I could from dressing as pretty as I could, to trying all the hottest sex moves, to being at his beck and call. I was a very sick individual at the time. What I didn’t know that staying with that person would set the precedence for a life of pain, disappointment, and lack of trust in anyone or anything. I already had incredibly low self-esteem when I met this person to begin with and he was the icing on a very shitty cake.
By the time I met my first husband I was 23 and he was 30. I had my children with him and was married for 14 years. My alcoholism continued to escalate because that relationship cemented in me the fact that I was worthless, ugly, fat, stupid, and not worth the dirt off of someone’s shoes. I was angry and I was hateful and I just gave up. I figured I would drink myself to death and it will all be over. I believed that this lifetime was just a horrible mistake, besides the birth of my daughters I had no good memories and certainly nothing to look forward to. In my mind it was over…I couldn’t find it within myself to change my perspective. I prayed for death…I prayed that it would come quickly and each morning when I woke up still awake I became even more depressed.
When I finally divorced my husband I rented an apartment with my 2 daughters. I feel sorry for them because they saw me in ways no child should have to see their mother. I can’t change that, but I did change the way I moved forward. I met a nice man, my current husband, and he too had his own unique blend of damage. It was through meeting him that I began to THINK about changing my life, I just didn’t know how. He inspired me to be a better mother for my children and a better woman for my own sake. I had no idea how to go about it but by exchanging stories and learning from each other I began to think maybe……just maybe I had a second chance in me….maybe.
After a 3 year long distant relationship I eventually moved to Arizona with my daughters. While my relationship with Leif was OK, we both were experiencing residual problems from our first marriages. He was married to his first wife for 17 years and he too has 2 children. What we have learned through our education to become Life Coaches is that until we resolve the initial incidents that caused the problems we currently have we are doomed to repeat the choices of the past. We will make the same benevolent choices over and over again and it doesn’t matter WHO we date, our behavior will naturally occur. To move forward and get into healthy, fulfilling, and long lasting relationships with quality people the changes must occur from within us.
The one thing I know just as equally as I know about addiction is love and the lack there of it. I know that the work I had to do over the past 2 years was paramount in my relationship recovery. I had to heal the broken parts of me before I could really see who I was AND where I wanted to go. My husband had to go through it as well to heal his issues. Then, together we learned to encapsulate the true essence of a loving, trusting marriage. The work is hard, and reliving some situations are painful but until we get dirty and really release those problems and those people we won’t have the relationships we want with anyone!
It isn’t just about having a happy marriage; relationship recovery is for all the relationships in your life including your children, your parents, co-workers and the general public. Only you can make the changes necessary for your success. You can’t hold the world hostage because of your previous experiences! Potential partners do not deserve what has happened to your, and they can’t be punished for your poor choices of the past and the damage you have received. That is OUR problem, not there’s and if we do treat each new person like our last partner..we will never find what we are looking for. It will only repeat itself time and time again!
Relationship Recovery is for all people in all phases of life and it doesn’t matter if you are married or single. It doesn’t matter if you have been married for 50 years or 5 minutes, the time to make those critical changes is now. If you’re single, this is a perfect time to address your personal issues and prepare yourself for a relationship that is worthy of you! Nothing will change until you do…..
To learn more see www.sacredcircleministry.com!
In Light!
Kristen
Heart to Heart 