Ma'am, I'm in a relationship for three years now. Everything was normal in the beginning. But the past year has been extremely tumultuous for us as I've been expressing unnecessary anger towards my significant other.I never used to yell at him or push him to the point where he'd get annoyed of me and stops talking to me. While I'm the kind of person who likes to talk things out after a few hours of the argument but he's the opposite. He takes his own sweet time which is not wrong. I realise I treat him differently from my friends as I know subconsciously he won't break up with me. The last fight we had over something trivial made me feel like I pulled the last straw and I'm very guilty about it. Even I've started to realise now that somewhere along the way I took him for granted and kept hurting him as he gave me a lot of chances to improve. He is a very sweet person but I feel like I've turned him into an egoistic monster who doesn't want to see or talk to me anymore. I don't know how to save this relationship. I don't know if I should kill my hopes of continuing this relationship. We haven't spoken to each other for more than 2 weeks now and I am using this time to change myself and learn to control my anger and to speak with everyone with respect and understand them better. I want to tell him that I'm genuinely improving this time but he doesn't seem interested in listening to me as I've misused the prior chances so obviously he feels like he's being deceived this time to. So I made my mind to speak to him after a month until I feel like I've changed at least a little so I'm worthy of his love. Also I don't let my short temper and rudeness affect our relationship. But I'm afraid he might hate me even more for not trying to talk to him. I'm confused wondering if he'll move on and not realise in trying to change. What should I do?AM
Ans: Dear AM,
Oh my dear, why are you being so unkind to yourself? It takes two to tango!
Maybe, you realize that you have been taking him for granted, but hey, there’s an expiry date to punishing yourself over it.
Once you know, it’s time to work on your relationship and that certainly doesn’t mean being harsh.
This could also lead you to feel victimised and not be a very favourable mindset. Instead, what if you get to the root of the challenge at hand?
Here’s a few reality check questions. It might give you a chance to go back to the drawing board and reevaluate your relationship with a fresh pair of eyes.
What is causing me to have that temper?
What usually triggers the arguments?
What did I see in my partner when I chose him to be my significant half?
Do I still see the same in him even now or has it changed? If yes, what has changed? Am I willing to adapt to the change?
What causes me to be afraid of him moving on? Am I in a co-dependent relationship?
What will happen to me if he moves on?
Why is important for me to put so much energy into changing myself? Is it for myself or to keep him from moving on?
You get the drift?
You can add to these questions and give your mind an alternate way of processing things into a solution space.
Having said this; it’s time to give yourself some love too, no matter what, prioritize yourself and create some mind space to reevaluate where you are to where you want to be.
Happy 2022 and best wishes!