Hi Dawn, Thank you so much for your kind words..ive been struggling for a really long time..Anita can attest to that :/..its been really tough for me. I can only be thankful for this to be able to talk about it. I dont want to be a victim but i fell into that very very familiar female trap of being too patient, too nice and devoted. I had my precious time wasted by a callous man who has all the time in the world.

Its tough to explain to people who have kids, that being without is probably harder. I am effectively excluded from life. There are some women who will not talk to me because they dont think they should bother, there are some who think i am not a serious adult because i havent had kids…some of them behave more childish than their teenagers! there are some who feel embarrassed to invite me to things because they are bringing their kids..and its kind of true, we are in different tribes. There are the people who dismiss my authority about any subject by asking if i have children, as if..if i hadnt, i have lived half a life….would they guess i CAN have kids? because if you said that to someone who couldnt it would seem pretty mean spirited right?…Its a club, and all those inside are allowed to moan about how their kids test them and make life difficult, and yet have wonderful moments where their kids cheer them up..brighten up their day, their ego is elevated by the achievements and compliments the kids get, they feel a real purpose to their life no matter what happens, and of course ultimately its being part of a family unit…i dont have that.

I dont think i would make an unhappy person if i wasnt constantly trampled on. I was devoted to my boyfriend and always happy to be around him and i would probably have been devoted to my kids.  Its just my bad fortune that has sent me this way..in fact, i hear my ex is the one who is unhappy again but thats another personality issue. You can’t fill a void in your heart by constantly looking for new women when the one you are with doesnt do everything you want.

Anita, i think you could be right in that people make a guess that i must be angry and dont want to talk to them. I suppose it could also have a lot to do with my misfortune, who wants to hang out with a loser when life is tough enough? I try to be friendly but if you dont have a big bubbly personality and popularity you can forget it. I guess the only good thing about getting older is that you start to care less. The pain and sadness is something i can deal with on my own, the last thing i would do is use other people to avoid my issues, that is what my ex does.

Hi Dawn R, i really appreciate your comments…i am doing my best to create the boundaries..like you said its difficult and i have had a really tough year this year and last. I am trying to find out what I want rather than what others want me to want, if that makes sense.

Hi Anita,

I had two really opposing days on the weekend. On saturday i went with a friend to a peaceful protest against oil drilling, it was amazingly calm and a really positive lovely thing to be part of.  Unusually there was very little negative to experience apart from standing out from the usual crowd on the beach the actual protest was incredibly inclusive and kind…i really saw a different side to humanity.

On Sunday, i met with my parents and had somewhat the opposite experience..we were supposed to go to an event, it was cancelled last minute and they didnt know (lately with them..everything seems to go wrong?) so we ended up going to a restaurant..where my mom started conversation by several negative statements (such as: did you hear about that girl that died?) this is very normal for her, then she asked my dad to give her some “compliments” about a book she has written, she then told me some unwelcome news about my ex…which hurt me a lot because i am doing my best to ignore my feelings for him.  Friends of theirs know my ex…and he had told them he hoped he could be friends….with my parents! So you can imagine how i felt.

What did my mom think that would achieve to tell me that? that SHE was special? beause thats how it really came across. i know she thought she was being supportive, saying he could go screw himself but really how it came out was ” he´s desperate to be my friend!”. There is something a little sick (competitive) about this..she has also claimed to me once that my sister´s partner had kissed her on the mouth when they visited them, that it came out of nowhere. I was really taken aback when she said that because that was a little far out, she had already bragged about previous partners being “inappropriate” with her. It didnt seem too likely but i dont know my sisters partner well, i know he was trying to be boyfriend in law nr 1 but that´s too far!! Who is telling the truth!?

is she making it all into a big drama? I think she likes to show off that she is wanted. To keep attention on her.

But to intentionally hurt me…i find it too much to take anymore.. i dont have the backing of another family member since my dad is oblivious to my mothers behaviour..and my sister is now pregnant so wants the “pretend” picture more than ever right now.

I guess this is just usual womens´issues….men look away!! you have it so easy!

Hi Anita,

I feel like i am too messed up to get over everything. I start to write one thing and end up wiping it and writing something else. We are told to follow our heart..my heart desperately wants my ex to accept and love me as an equal..thats impossible. But my mind just isnt able to get over it. My parents invited me out..i didnt really want to go but felt it would be the right thing to do..i got blindsided again. I feel that my mother doesnt realise what she does. I think she doesnt seem to see the sensitivity in the things she says…because its not happening to her. Thats the only way i can explain it. But i felt like i had been stabbed in the heart again.

I guess that on a core level, we all know our own mind very well. Even if we try to trick ourselves and others into believing everything is fine or that we like certain things, we know what makes us truly happy. But very few people are able to pursue it without restraints. Thats how i feel.

I think i am mostly limited by my personality which by nature is reserved, quiet, embarrassed easily, high anxiety. I often attract bad behaviour from people, clients who are demanding or angry, friends and boyfriends who are bullying or abusive, strangers who are jealous and competitive. I can say that i see that now because i have reached an age to be able to look back and see the patterns. I cant relate to people who want to hurt or punish others but it seems that life favors them.

I still have no idea why people react to me so strongly. I am very sensitive. I loved my boyfriend because he was the opposite and was able to take me out of myself…which i think i need to stay grounded instead of wallowing in the depths of my mind. When he said things to me that were critical..i could see his point of view but like my mom, he didnt handle it too well in return. I have the tendency to drag others down when i am in low energy…when i need a lot of space and they dont understand ..they then feel rejected..its a vicious cycle and leaves me hating myself instead of thinking that they need to adapt.

I hate not knowing what the truth is. My ex lied to me and was developing a new relationship with someone else who was also manipulative as she clearly knew what she was doing to split us up and clearly gave him an ultimatum. The two of them may be better suited but the circumstances are nasty. I have been left out in the cold and have no idea about his life anymore, we dont share any friends. So the only thing i have is starsigns and i watch them obsessively to try and find answers…they give me false hope, then drop me, then pick me up again. Its like an addiction i have developed without anything or anyone else to distract me. I seem to be endlessly able to obsess and i wish i could forget.

At the moment i dont see much future for myself. I have managed to pull myself out of financial danger..which was a burden on top of the break up. But as for social life i have not got any bright ideas. Instead of panicking too much i have just chosen to accept the solitude being grateful i am not worse off. I know if i compare my life to some women they would be horrified at how little i have gotten out of life but i am just grateful i am ok..im still very scarred by my experiences, for instance this morning i woke up from a nightmare and found it was reality. So right now i just hope i can find somewhere to live where i will be able to get a dog, at least to have some company.

Hi Mary899, thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement. There have been 2 times that i had to return home to my parents and live with them, both times of course after a breakup that left me homeless and without enough to support myself. I give myself all up till the end..they walk away as if nothing happened. This time i thankfully had my apartment, my job, friends…but it has been even more painful than the last time. I am really to a point where…i know i cant do that again, i cant trust some guy just because he said so. He has to prove it. But i dont know if i can ever ever let someone get close to me again after this…

Hi Anita, I wanted to add that i felt that you had had a similar experience with your mom and that there was something in this that resonated with you. I appreciate that you can see that side to it because for me….if i complain,..i feel such guilt, because that is the conditioning of such parents.

I STILL feel that really i am the bad person and i do know why…my dad. He had a forceful controlling mother and has replaced her with a forceful wife. He makes me feel bad if i complain to my mother…because he would feel bad. Its a sickness inherited. The abuse continues because he is not brave enough…and my boyfriends were also not brave enough…so what do we make of that

Hi Anita,

You are right about me being invisible. My parents cant wait for me to finish a story before they are telling me theirs. Friends take me for granted when i initially show i am easygoing. I know i give myself a harder time than anyone ever could but i guess i am not especially cherished. My ex urged me to do more for others, for charity. I felt drained from helping him. I would get to his house and he would say “before you sit down can you ABC and D”. I was a secretary, assistant in sales, marketing and purchasing, cleaner, not so much a cook (much criticised) and caretaker for him. In return, i obviously “needed to work on myself and spirituality”.

I know that he probably regrets his actions…in the heat of anger and his desire to chase after another woman (and thus, quickly get rid of me), i feel that now the passion is over..and the daily grind is present, he is probably starting with the doubts.

I recently decided to email him, to give him some stuff i was getting rid of. And he continues to blame me for his actions. He said the word BETRAYAL. Which i thought was very apt as that is exactly how i rightfully feel! At the same time, starsigns i have read are saying there is another person in denial about their actions, unable to confess and that they will miss an opportunity in love..this is very true. I cant fight this anymore, Its probably why he always had such trouble sleeping.

My friend that supported me through the first months of the breakup and basically got me out of the house, listened to my story..had admitted her own pain of still being in love with a guy that broke her heart about 4 years ago with a similar horrible betrayal, …she concentrates all her attention and love on her children and on getting by so she has something to focus on but suffers because she dreams of being with him and her pride wont let her tell him that because of the action he made….it seems like a curse.

This is the person i fell out with because although she helped me personally, at work she was becoming unbearably bossy and demanding. I felt we had enough friendship that i could tell her enough was enough when once again she overstepped and knew it..but in return she froze me out of her life. Once again, i lost someone close to me!!! in the space of 3 months. BETRAYAL

I know in all this talk, i was hoping i could somehow find a way out of this pain…it seems any actions i take just go wrong so i stopped trying. I dont have much of a life. But in painful irony my starsigns say i am meeting the love of my life this month, getting married, that its possibly an ex, that i have come into my own awareness etc. I seem to be endlessly fascinated to hear more and more. Im not interested in anything else.

There is nothing to enjoy. I miss being with my ex so much and i dont have the opportunity to meet the right people for me. I dont understand why i have had such a hard time, that all the times i have tried have not worked out. I see how it goes for others…within months they are dating again, meeting new people…fate has made sure there was no one around for me to meet, that i had no money to do anything. everything i tried was a brick wall. For months and months i looked for a dog to adopt so i could have company but eventually gave up looking when none of them were ok for an apartment. I tried starting tennis but it was too expensive, i looked at gyms and it was the same. I looked for groups i could join, there were none in the hours i had free. I went out a couple of times with my friend to bars..it was so horrible to be there again, i hated it…and being older i felt out of place. I have TRIED.

Now i am selling my apartment and moving out (also in the starsigns). i dont know what my future will be..i have no one, i am getting rid of a lot of things…i just want emptiness to match how i feel. When i met my ex i was renting, i only had boxes as side tables and he said it was pathetic. I finally finally got my first apartment..i moved in and he broke up with me, i felt like he was jealous i had done so well. i have really. its the only thing in my life that went well and i have to leave it…so it will again be just pain for me and leaving. Maybe i have to accept that i live in pain as a Scorpio? we are always told we are too deep, too intense. But i get attached and it hurts to let go.

Hi Anita, i understand…i will stop posting because i have taken up a lot of your time.