Home→Forums→Relationships→Is taking a 'break' okay?
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December 18, 2018 at 11:41 am #269875Ik09Participant
so I am back to the forum.
6 months after my break up… it was a three-year relationship, I was finally happy and content with myself.
It took me 5 months to realize that the old relationship was pretty much dead to the point that when my ex came back and asked to get back together, I declined. I wanted a fresh start, I wanted a chance to see and feel like myself again- strong and confident.
And it did happen.
I was on a vacation with my sister and two of her friends. One of them… I was attracted to him but since he was from my sister’s circle, I thought I would rather not indulge. But as we got to know each other more and more throughout the vacation, I felt we were very very similar and very compatible. Back from the vacation, we texted a little…… I was in the same city as him… I was living with my sister.
And one day when drunk, he texted me that he had a crush on me and although he tried containing it. He wasn’t successful at it. Next day he apologized repeatedly, I told him its fine and we were back to normal terms. one day towards the end of the week, we were texting more than regular and it came out again. I told him I had a crush on him as well. He asked me out on a date and I agreed.
We had a wonderful time, it was just food and talking but there was an undeniable connection. when he dropped me back, he said since he is in my sister’s friend circle (there are not close) so he would like to first ask her and then take me out the next time. I know my sister better than he does so I said why don’t go out a little more before deciding to talk to her, talking to her would mean officially starting something. he agreed.
Over the course of three weeks, we went out on 8 dates and each one of them was quite successful in establishing the fact that there is something between us.
I was leaving for my home a day after so I told him that this might be the time to ask my sister. If she disagrees even then, I would not face any emotional stress. I don’t have a very good relationship with my sister, it has never been great. I do love her but I have always felt that I have sacrificed a lot for her, She, however, thinks that all that I sacrificed was her right and so I did nothing for her at all. Instead, she feels it is her duty to advise me and to steer me on the right path because I am a child. She never approved of any of my past relationships. None of them, she said were appropriate for me and I understand that She was just being a caring sister but I, as a rule, don’t interfere with her life, comment on her relationships or career options. And I wish she would give me the same space and respect. I warned this guy too that due to such reasons, there will be a lot of drama and stress. He said He would handle everything as he knows my sister too as a friend and she is kind and reasonable.
so he asked her.
my sister agreed when she talked to him and asked him to call me directly and ask me out this evening. In my sister’s knowledge, I hadn’t gone out with him even once. Once she got off the call with him, She asked to deny his date request when he calls. She did not want me to go out with him because he smoked and was a usual drinker(every weekend). I told her that I like him too and that I want to go out with him. Before all this, before the vacation, when she has suggested that her friends should join us on the trip, she appreciated this guy a lot. I had met him only once that time and I was attracted to him then as well but then it wasn’t a well-informed attraction. Now suddenly she changed her entire opinion about him and told me how bad he was and how many women he had dated etc. (He had been honest about everything with me, drinking smoking, women, his two exes, everything)
I wasn’t convinced by my sister’s reaction and so I said I am not a kid and I would go out. At this point, I must you I am an Indian girl and parents and siblings play an important role in our lives… so my sister called my mother (unnecessary move to involve them when it was just dating) and painted the worst kind of image of the guy. My mother who was around 1800ish km away from me got scared and asked me to not do anything and stay inside and make peace with my sister. I was leaving the next day, so I packed my bags after making peace with my sister. I asked the guy to not text or call till I left for the airport the next day. We met at the airport the next day. There was a little stress in both our minds but when we met, there was nothing but an unspoken emotion. He was sad that I was leaving and just said that the distance, me being away, won’t make a difference. we did not acknowledge or say anything emotional but I could see in his eyes that he felt deeply for me. As for me, I was still figuring out what I felt.
When I came back home, through one of their mutual friends, she got to know that we (he and I) were talking on texts and calls. My sister called to confirm and I didn’t deny. I was fed up of all the stress hiding things was creating. I genuinely felt relieved that everyone knew. My sister knew and to deter me, told my parents. who unlike her are cool about me and my choices. Seeing that they weren’t convinced, over the period of next one month, She poisoned their minds against me in general and then against the guy. I pleaded to my parents to not think about it all since it’s so stupid to bother about such things, they agreed but asked me to stop talking so that I can concentrate on my coming masters’ final year exams. I agreed but I wasn’t able to cut the contact. For everyone else, we had stopped talking. while all this was happening at my home, my sister ruined his reputation amongst his friends, their mutual friends, and his flatmates. He was stressed and although he did not say it, I felt it in his tone.
Now he had to hide from his flatmates to even call me in the evenings (we strictly never talked during his office hours). The result was that I asked him to not call me but only text, but he always ended up calling. He said voice calls, video calls, and pictures were the only way he could feel my presence. But his flatmates started teasing him to the point that he was irritated all the time. Finally today evening, he said that he wanted to talk to me.
I said yes let’s talk. He told me that he was already stressed on the work front and his flatmates were making life difficult at home too. He told me that he quit smoking and its been a month since he stopped. And that he is planning to leave drinking frequently as well in the new year. I said its all great, he said I motivated him to do it, my presence makes him feel like being a better man for me. I was touched obviously. Then he said that although these changes have happened, he wants to switch to a better company and be healthier, work out regularly and invest his time in prepping for interviews of this big IT company that will pay him a better salary. I said that is good, how do you want me to help. He said He wants me to concentrate on my studies so that I am able to do well and ensure my admission to a good college for my further studies (Ph.D.) next year on. He said he does not feel ethically right to be hiding our relationship from everyone and also talking when I told my parents that I won’t. He said we should take a break for the next 6 months and focus entirely on ourselves so that He is able to switch his job and I get into a good college and after these 6 months, he wants to come and meet me wherever I am and talk about the future. He then told me that he loved me and that he sees a potential partner in me (he even told his parents about me). I didn’t know what to say so I asked him if he took any breaks in his past relationships, to which he said that he never felt the need to improve for them. But for me, he wants to improve and show everyone that I brought a positive change in his life, just as he feels. I was just getting attached and did not know what to do. I said I don’t like ambiguity so it’s either a clean breakup or a relationship… I suggested we can talk less but he said it will break our motivation. Here we are working hard just to be together, if we are already secure in our minds that we are together, we will not work hard. I said okay … I was lost for words. He then said please understand this We are not single but we are not necessarily committed as well… I was confused… He explained he meant that we are not single to date others but we are not committed because it will bring security that will make us complacent.
Once the phone call ended, I realized I might have been feeling a deep emotion for him too. And his presence brought many positive changes in me as well and that I do want to succeed as well but Currently I have no idea how to process everything. There is this fear in me, 6 months is a long time… what if we change…
I have met many men in my life, even my ex but this level of compatibility was never present with any of them. I mean, as a rule, I have never been able to comprehend the men I like. Everyone else I can see right through except for all the men I ever had an interest in. After my interest in them faded, I was able to see through them and their mind as well…
but this man… I understand him like I am seeing myself in the mirror, It’s that easy and natural. I haven’t told my friends, the two-three of them I have in my life because they would judge me for moving on in just 6 months and also feeling something deeply emotional for another man.
I know you cannot tell me the future but tell me how to process this and be as concentrated as before towards my exams. I am still studying but I feel that the thought of him will keep coming in my mind, making me want to talk to him in the next few days and weeks and that I don’t want. I have finally found happiness inside me. I am now not as broken as I was after my breakup because then I had stopped loving myself. Here things are different but I genuinely like this man, he is mature and I genuinely respect him. I want to honour the deal but I am afraid as well. As far as I know him I know he is a man of his words, a very rare quality in men of this generation. But I have never had a break from a relationship before or have heard any of my friends do it, breaking up and reuniting- yes….. breaks within a relationship no.
Also, he feels this period will help us convince our parents and my sister in particular that we are mature enough to not think emotionally but logically. I am not very mature in this aspect and apart from making my parents unhappy, I feel I need not give anybody any explanation.
Help me, please.
sorry for writing a lot. I am a writer and tend to get carried away a lot.
December 18, 2018 at 11:43 am #269879Ik09Participantalso, It was 7 months when I started dating, now it’s been 9 and a half months… I have been dating my current guy for 2 and a half months.
December 18, 2018 at 12:22 pm #269895AnonymousGuestDear IpkR09:
Welcome back! I will be able to read and reply to your thread when I am back to the computer in about sixteen hours. I hope other members answer you before I return.
anita
December 18, 2018 at 7:57 pm #269923Ik09ParticipantI wilI patiently wait Anita and to others, you are welcome to help me out as well…will be a great help.
- This reply was modified 6 years ago by Ik09.
December 19, 2018 at 9:51 am #269991AnonymousGuestDear IpkR09:
I took some time to re-read your posts on your previous thread. There are a few topics worthy of addressing regarding that thread and this, being the same topic. I will address only one for now, and that is the issue of your sister.
Regarding your ex boyfriend, you wrote in your previous thread: “My sister met him and she said he loved me very much and he is very serious regarding you”. On this thread you wrote about your sister: “She never approved of any of my past relationships. None of them”- so I suppose she approved of your ex boyfriend and then she changed her mind and disapproved, correct?
On your current thread you wrote regarding the current man in your life that he asked her permission regarding dating you, she told him it is okay with her, that he should call you to ask you out and then told you to refuse him (“my sister agreed when she talked to him and asked him to call me directly and ask me out this evening… Once she got off the call with him, she asked to deny his date request when he calls. She did not want me to go out with him”).
So, she didn’t want you to go out with him and went about it dishonestly, not wanting him to know that it is she who was refusing the date. She wants to control you but she doesn’t want him, her friend, to know she is the one making your decision. I suppose she feels it is wrong of her to decide for you, so she keeps it a secret from him.
You wrote: “before all this.. she appreciated this guy a lot… Now suddenly she changed her entire opinion about him and told me how bad he was..My sister.. told my parents… Seeing that they weren’t convinced.. She poisoned their minds against me in general then against the guy”.
What motivates your sister to keep you away from relationships, dishonestly and energetically working hard to keep you from having a relationship with any man, willing to turn her/ your parents against you for that aim?
And why is it so important for you to please your sister, why do you give her power over your life?
anita
December 19, 2018 at 10:03 am #269993Ik09ParticipantFirstly, thank you so much Anita… You are actually very kind to read and really understand everything. I feel reassured that I will be okay when I talk to you.
Okay, so yes… When my sister met my ex… She approved at first… They even exchanged texts and told him that she approved as well but when the break up happened, she totally went back on her words…much like this time.
Her actual motivation behind all this…I don’t know but from what she has been telling me she says she feels she needs to look out for me. We have had disputes over this as well but the thing is…my sister never discusses anything…it’s always she speaking her mind and then walking off.
Not just my sister…for a long time in my life…i needed approval of my entire family..my two siblings and my patents… And i was easily hurt too by their words…but there has been a change in me ever since i met this guy… He did not ask me to be against any of them… Instead he cares more than I do… But I finally don’t require her approval… I don’t. But he feels he wronged her as a frien by not telling her in advance that he wanted to pursue her sister…. Currently they don’t talk…my sister has blocked both of us on all social media… And there is no communication between me and my sister or him and her.
- This reply was modified 6 years ago by Ik09.
December 19, 2018 at 10:22 am #270003AnonymousGuestDear IpkR09:
You are welcome.
In your previous thread you wrote: “I always have had the fear of being left alone all my life… It originated long back due to some family members… leaving me behind”-
what family members left you behind, when and how?
In your previous thread you wrote: “My sister is getting married in July and we are not on talking terms for a month and a half”- whose decision was that and why was it made to not be on talking terms?
In your post of a few moments ago you wrote that your sister blocked you on all social media “And there is no communication between me and my sister”- whose decision is it and why was it made, to not be on talking terms .. yet again?
anita
December 19, 2018 at 10:32 am #270009Ik09ParticipantI am am Indian girl…and although I belong to a well educated family but still…my late paternal grandfather was not very receptive to a second girl child in my family….he wanted my parents to give me up for adoption….there was a lot of stress so my mother requested my maternal grandmother to keep me… I stayed there till I was 5-6 years old…. My maternal uncle and aunt hadn’t been blessed by a child then so they decided to adopt me…but then for some reason they changed their my mind later… A year later… My parents were able to convince my paternal grandfather to bring me back home and he agreed…
All through my childhood, I worked hard just to prove that I am worthy. Now I realise how weak it made me from within…
My sister wasn’t very good at academics so she was always compared to me… She hated it and slowly it made her feel that I purposely try being better than her… The constant comparison is in my eyes the main reason for the stiffness between us….
My sister was supposed to be married but things went wrong…. She is single for now. Even then, she was the one to decide that we shouldnt talk since we are very different people and our opinions don’t match…. And now…she blocked me…said she does not consider me her sister anymore… I told her… I know I am not wrong and so… I will not block her or see her differently.
December 19, 2018 at 10:36 am #270011Ik09ParticipantI was actually sent to stay with her by my parents because they felt that she needs some emotional support for now… And since my parents were not available to travel so they sent me with her. I was sceptical about going because our stays have never ended well but I was worried about her as well. Cancellation of a marriage can cause a huge emotional breakdown and so I encouraged the vacation… although I wanted only the two of us on the vacation…I thought maybe it will bring us closer… And it did… But also made me closer to him.
December 19, 2018 at 11:11 am #270019AnonymousGuestDear IpkR09:
Your sister was born, later you were born (how much older is your sister?). Your father’s father didn’t like you being a girl so he wanted his son to give you up for adoption. Your mother didn’t want to do that, so she asked her parents to take care of you. They did. Eventually you were brought back to your parents home. Two daughters there, your sister and you. You tried to convince your parents (and maybe grandparents and everyone else) that you were worthy to be in their home.
You did better than your sister academically, and she was compared unfavorably to you, that made her feel competitive with you, jealous, maybe she was feeling that you were a sort of an outsider that came into the home to outdo her, to take away from her. So she is still angry, trying to prevent you from having a relationship with a man, because she doesn’t have one. Angry, she cuts contact with you every so often.
Did I understand correctly?
After she cuts contact with you, is it you who is chasing her, trying to get her to talk to you again?
anita
December 19, 2018 at 11:19 am #270023Ik09ParticipantEverytime….yes…i apologise to her every time… because i feel someone has to(we are siblings after all) and i know she wouldn’t…
My sister is 5 years older than me..
What you are saying…is something I have felt too but I dared not say it aloud… It didn’t seem right on my part to think that way.
December 19, 2018 at 11:30 am #270027AnonymousGuestDear IpkR09:
I want to come back to your thread when I am back to the computer. If you would like to add here more about what you “dared not say it aloud”, please do.
It is difficult though to write about what we are deeply conflicted about, isn’t it?
I hope to read from you when I am back. Take good care of yourself, have courage but be gentle with yourself. It is difficult to face matters that… mean so much, almost too much, if you know what I mean, do you?
I will be back in about sixteen hours from now. Take good care of yourself!
anita
December 19, 2018 at 11:32 am #270029AnonymousGuest* didn’t reflect under Topics
December 19, 2018 at 11:35 am #270031Ik09ParticipantYou too…. Take care Anita.. i will try not to think. Will wait for you.
December 19, 2018 at 11:43 am #270037AnonymousGuestThank you, IpkR09. Will be back to you. Relax best you can.
anita
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