ckisland
Well-Known Member
Well that couldn't have gone any better and I'm a whole girlfriend now LOL!!!!Haven't seen each other in a year, and I'm so excited. Please let tonight go well
Well that couldn't have gone any better and I'm a whole girlfriend now LOL!!!!Haven't seen each other in a year, and I'm so excited. Please let tonight go well
I'm not a professional and you can tell me to kick rocks but I'll risk some bloody toes to encourage you to keep fighting.
What I see happening and again it's just my opinion, is something I did for a very long time in therapy.
My attitude was, " don't tell me what my problems are because you have no clue how I feel or what I'm going through."
I was angry all the time and I could not hear what my therapist was saying because I couldn't hear what I was saying.
My overall thoughts were always negative. I believed those thoughts so I lived by the principles of those thoughts.
When you're going through emotions that are strong, powerful and hurtful the world feels so small. For me, I thought my problems were so unique, I wasn't trying to hear any of that positive thinking stuff. To me, it didn't work and that's not what I wanted or needed. I wanted solutions and for someone to agree that my issues are terrible and let me live in that negative space .
The problem is nobody could give me the solutions I wanted and so I was stuck at that place. I had so many therapist give up on me because no matter what they said, I moved backwards and stayed with my negative principles.
I finally met a therapist who challenged my thoughts so aggressively my thinking had to shift. She promised me that as long as I'd let her she would fight for me.
I could of done what I usually did which was declare my therapist was terrible and move on to the next one that would allow me to dictate everything. They kept throwing me a life jacket that I'd swim away from until they could no longer see me. I kept drowning but wouldn't accept the thing that could save me.
As long as you don't challenge yourself on feeling like there's something wrong with you, there is always going to be something wrong with you.
You have to really look deep and challenge that negative principle because it's eating you up. You have to open up and listen to yourself.
What started the ball rolling for me was this exercise I did over and over. I wrote in a journal daily titled "Why am I dysfunctional today" in this format.
1. Core Beliefs
2. Dysfunctional Assumptions
3. Automatic Negative Thoughts
4. Reflection
5 Reshaping Negative thoughts.
So as an example
Core belief: I am not attractive enough to date
2. Dysfunctional Assumption...men aren't attracted to me because I'm not light skinned with long hair and a big booty and wear a size 6 jean.
3. Automatic Negative thought- there is something wrong with me
4. Reflection- that guy I met online was just looking for sex. I'm looking for love therefore I know this guy was not the right guy for me
5. Reshape negative thought...you know what, I was attracted to that guy but all he wanted was a hook up. I am not in a place where I'm looking for a hookup and I do not want to be treated like all I'm good for is some casual sex. There is nothing wrong with sticking to my desires and principles. I recognize that being in a situationship will only hurt me further therefore I made the best decision for me in not allowing myself to be someone's one night stand. I didn't want no weewee after having a 10 minute conversation with someone I just met. I'm worth more than that
What can I do differently:
Tomorrow I'm going to a comedy show and laugh until my stomach hurts. I'm going to continue to focus on me and stack as many good days as possible.
It took courage for me to go back and read the things Ivwas saying because it meant I had to admit I was doing the things mtmy therapist told me I was doing and if I truly wanted to grow, I had to take steps out of the negative space I felt comfortable living in. But I did it to save my life. I was so mentally tired and done I work at it every day.
Do I still speak negatively and have days I don't want to fight it anymore, yes. The difference is I have tools to help me cope
I hear you GraceJones.
Keep working, keep expressing your sadness, it's not something to keep bottled up. It takes a village and you have a diverse group of women here that want to see you come out of this.
Take care of you.
I'm going to wrap up my bloody toes now but it's worth it because I believe in you.
Now with the car situation, what if you live in New York City or a bike/walk friendly area?
@TrulyBlessed
That Gif is perfect! See how you give an inch, they take a mile?!?! Lol
Hookup culture, continued rise in STDs, trauma bonds, broken hearts, 50/50 debates, men demanding sex by the first, second or third date and actually getting it, dating as a sexual transaction instead of for love, decrease in marriage rates, increase in divorce rates, gender wars, emotional unavailability, virginity shaming, celibacy shaming, religion shaming, pet shaming, leaving women to be single mothers, red pill podcasts, social media, Sexy Redd. Seeing how dating and relationships are so toxic and at its absolute worst right now do you think this is the end of healthy love as we know it or are we going to bottom out at some point where everyone gets fed up and strives to bring back romance of our past? (wishful thinking)
I’m trying to think around what year did society take such a drastic turn in terms of love and relationships? Is it mainly due to social media and dating apps? Things haven’t always been perfect but my God it wasn’t like this. I feel like we’re in a zombie movie where almost everyone is walking shells of themselves. It’s destructive and people as a collective have to get fed up at some point. It’s giving II Timothy 3. Yesterday it was reported that syphilis is on the rise for newborns in America. C’mon people!
Most people in this era don’t know how to have relationships not just intimate ones. I do empathize with you, it seems fun to have a nice circle of friends but enjoying your own company may be the focus.Does anyone else have trouble making friends also? I feel so disconnected from society. I didn't have a lot of friends in HS because I was so corny. I was a transfer student in college so I didn't make any friends there either.
Yesterday I went to a group activity. I tried to make conversation with new people. I asked them about themselves as far as where they were from, what they did for a living, and what their goals were. Then my mind just went blank. I couldn't think of any more conversation topics or anything else to say so the conversation went dry. I felt frozen after that and just spoke to the people that I already knew.
I met a group of ladies a few weeks ago. They had an idea to have a get-together but needed a place to hold the function. I offered my place and I was looking forward to it. Someone else created a group text and they seemed as though they were still interested in the function. I suggested a date, but no one else really acknowledged it. I was really looking forward to it, but it doesn't seem like it will happen. I really wish I had a group of friends that I could chill with regularly and visit each other. It seems like people aren't really interested in making new friends if they already have their tribe.
This is frustrating to me because I do get positive feedback from people. I did meet another woman that I hung out with a few times. She moved out of town but she left me a nice WhatsApp message and she said she was grateful to meet me. I have another person that I hang out with regularly who also told me she was happy to have met me as a friend. I wish I just had these interactions more consistently. I try to invite people to hang out but they say they're busy or stop responding.
I just wish that I knew the “trick” to this
So you were willing to lower your standards maybe make a baby with a man/get married just to scratch this off the goals? Count your blessings that nothing has come forth.I'm working on my mental health at the moment. I think it would be a good idea to go on meds since I'm constantly crying. It's difficult to go throughout the day without tears.
On a positive note, I found a job. It doesn't pay as much as I used to make, but that's ok.
I'm just really confused as to why men generally aren't attracted to me. It's so difficult for them to see me. I've tried to analyze dating from a strategic point of view, in terms of what hobbies men like, where they hang out, and what they look for in terms of physicality, and tried to adapt to those things (or as best as i can as a black woman). it just... didn't happen. idk why or for what reason. it wasn't for lack of trying. i can't even get a date, much less a boyfriend. i don't even have the experience of being in a relationship. how am i ever going to get married? every attempt that I've made at dating has ended up disastrous. i've even tried to be flexible in terms of attractiveness and earning potential.
i really wasn't happy with the last guy i dated at all, but he made at least some type of effort to court me. i felt like he could really do more for himself in terms of a career and i didn't really feel like we were compatible, but i was willing to make concessions. he still ended up treating me poorly. like even these guys don't want me? i tried so hard. i'm so lost and i can't figure it out.
all of my childbearing years have left me. i feel like a big screw-up. i'll probably end up freezing my eggs in the next year once i get back on track financially.