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Should I confess my feelings to a divorced colleague? 42-year-old with a son seeking advice.

Kanchan

Kanchan Rai  |600 Answers  |Ask -

Relationships Expert, Mind Coach - Answered on Dec 01, 2024

Kanchan Rai has 10 years of experience in therapy, nurturing soft skills and leadership coaching. She is the founder of the Let Us Talk Foundation, which offers mindfulness workshops to help people stay emotionally and mentally healthy.
Rai has a degree in leadership development and customer centricity from Harvard Business School, Boston. She is an internationally certified coach from the International Coaching Federation, a global organisation in professional coaching.... more
Asked by Anonymous - Dec 01, 2024Hindi
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Relationship

Hello Ma'am, My name is [Anonymous]. I am 42 years old, divorced, and currently working abroad. I have a 7-year-old son who doesn't live with me, and I am looking to move on in life. I have a former colleague who is 38 years old. We worked together for six years, and she is also divorced. She is very professional and respects me a lot, always calling me "Sirji." We never discussed our personal lives while working together, but when I was leaving the company and serving my notice period, we started talking more about our personal lives. She was shocked to learn about my divorce, and I was equally surprised to find out about hers. Over the past six months, we’ve been talking regularly, and I have been helping her with her professional growth. Recently, we have been discussing moving on in life. I suggested that she find someone and settle down, but she shared with me that even her family doesn't talk about her personal life, though she appreciates my concern. She told me that she wants to marry someone from her community and religion, as she is vegetarian, but she is having trouble finding a suitable match. I suggested that she could consider someone from a different community, but she is afraid it wouldn't work out, and she would struggle to adjust. She has also encouraged me to find someone and move on in life. Sometimes, she jokes and tells me to find someone for her, but I believe she is a very good woman, and I have started developing feelings for her. However, I am afraid that if I ask her to consider me for marriage and she refuses, I could lose her as a good friend, and I really enjoy our conversations. Could you please offer me some advice on what I should do? ????

Ans: Before making a decision, reflect on your intentions and the nature of your feelings. Are they grounded in a strong foundation of mutual understanding and compatibility, or are they influenced by loneliness or a desire to move on from your past? Understanding this will help you approach the situation with clarity and confidence.

If you decide that your feelings are genuine and you’d like to explore the possibility of a deeper relationship, it’s important to communicate thoughtfully. Begin by affirming your respect for her and the friendship you share. You could say something like, "I value our friendship deeply and truly enjoy the conversations we have. Over time, I’ve found myself thinking about the possibility of something more between us. I understand and respect your preferences and your journey, but I wanted to share my feelings because I value honesty and openness in our connection."

This approach ensures that your feelings are expressed without putting pressure on her, and it allows her to consider the idea without feeling cornered. If she doesn’t feel the same way, you can express your understanding and emphasize that you would like to maintain the friendship.

It’s also worth considering her concerns about cultural compatibility. If this is a significant factor for her, you could discuss how you envision addressing potential challenges if the relationship were to progress. Showing empathy for her concerns and a willingness to navigate differences together might help her feel more secure.

Remember, vulnerability is a risk, but it’s also the foundation for meaningful connections. Whether or not she feels the same, being honest about your feelings allows you to move forward with clarity and authenticity. And regardless of her response, the friendship you’ve built is rooted in mutual respect, which provides a solid foundation for either outcome.
Asked on - Dec 01, 2024 | Answered on Dec 01, 2024
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Thank you for your reply ????????
Ans: welcome

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Ravi

Ravi Mittal  |599 Answers  |Ask -

Dating, Relationships Expert - Answered on May 20, 2024

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Thanks a lot for such a nuanced response to a set of rather complex emotions posed as questions. Now there has been some further developments. First, the interaction has graduated from text chats to frequent voice calls and even video calls. The points of touch have become varied and we are almost in constant touch as in case of two love birds . And the topics have become varied, even often including innuendos involving alluding possible physical intimacy. She has openly started saying that she finds me incredibly attractive even physically! We have been indirectly and lately directly talking about physical meetings and then now she has even set up a rendezvous. She informed me that she had long planned and arranged a travel to a tourist place with a friend long time back and then in passing informed me that she has booked an additional room for me. And requested me to join in. I jumped into the fray and have now booked my tickets. She tells me that her long standing friend on this trip knows about her state of marriage and she is going to tell her that we are in fact lovers !And the stay , for a couple of nights would also include a temple visit together …. Just to reiterate, my friend is no impetuous, love infatuated school girl; she has been the head of a school and has worked in responsible positions. And she also has two grown up children with newly set up families. But she says had it been possible, she would have loved to have a baby with me …. Secondly, I have been mildly persuading the lady to share my profile with her kids- so that they also get to feel that her mother's ex. classmate is also one with accomplishments. Incidentally I have a public profile which could be interesting to the NewGen kids. However, my friend probably doesn’t get the drift or unsure how to share this without having to reveal the intimacy level or doesn’t want to take any step forward now . Thirdly, I also notice that she also remotely keeps track of my activities , whether the maid has come , when I am taking food , whether my health /mood is as in case of a couple . She also sometimes even seems to be getting a little possessive about me , my being in touch with other lady batchmates , mostly in a good humoured manner ! Now in this back drop my questions are these: i) I am a little weary of getting into a physical relationship with a married lady (how so much she may love me ) as it feels unethical , I feel for the partner of the lady and also afraid that both me/ and the lady may also carry a feeling of guilt if we get into a physical relationship in the sly . So what would be the right thing to do on this planned rendezvous to be able to nicely avoid the physical part ? ii)I have been cautioning her to lock her phone lest her family member accidentally read her messages / hear our voice message exchanges. But she seems to have thrown all caution to winds without thinking about consequences. She is in constant touch with me .So how to get over this ? iii)And my hunch is that she would like to continue with the marriage and simultaneously carry on meeting me. to my mind, It doesn’t seem to go any where . So what should I do for letting her know that I expect her to come over in due course in a nice way? iv) I wanted her kids to know me as her mother’s friend , classmate . But she isn’t sharing my profile with them , nor is she interested that we ( her children and me) engage in usual conversation . What is that I need to do to get her think that getting her children to know me could be a good idea? Yours sincerely , Bholanath
Ans: Dear Anonymous,

I am happy you found my advice helpful. Coming to your current query-

1) If you are not comfortable getting physically intimate, clearly communicating that is the best thing. You both are adults; beating around the bush or making other excuses to avoid getting intimate might come off as disinterest. Clearly expressing your concerns is the right way. Tell your partner that you don't think it's ethical to get intimate with someone who is committed to another man; while you love her, you are not comfortable with that. Instead, you want to focus on emotional intimacy.

2) Seems like that is her choice. You can only caution her and you already did that. The only thing to do here is continue doing so. She is an adult and you can't really do anything more than that.

3) I repeat, communication is the only answer. If it bothers you that she won't leave her husband and settle with you, you have to voice your feelings to her. It isn't easy to leave a marriage, no matter how it is. You can let her know that you don't want to be in a dead-end relationship if that's what is bothering you. I am sure she can handle the truth.

4) She is their mother. She knows what's best for her children. I would recommend not interfering with it. But you can directly ask her why she is not willing to introduce you to them. You might get some clarity.

Best Wishes.

..Read more

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