About a year ago, I split up with my then DP and lovely MNers on the relationship board helped me through. The bloke in question had a problem with my sexual past and was generally a bit of a possessive/spoilt nob.
What happened with that relationship has finally made me face up to the unpleasant truth that I have never managed to have a 'normal' functioning LTR.
Examples:
-Most recent ex (subject of last year?s thread): sulked for six months because he didn't like a present I'd given him; pleaded with me to admit that one nights stands (which I'd had years before we met) were wrong; as a consequence of my 'past' was 'unable' to tell me that he loved me for over a year; would regularly become so emotional/angry that he would flounce off for hours on end to get his head together. There is more.
-On/off/on again guy from years ago. Cheated on me; lied to me; would ignore me for spurious reasons; would withhold sex as a power thing; made it clear he considered himself intellectually superior to me. Again, there is more.
I put effort into the above and other relationships and there was angst, heartache. Looking back on it all now I wonder - why did I put up with this shit? Where was my self esteem? Is it due to the lack of a positive male role model for me to see what 'normal' blokes are like? Due to my parents' strange relationships? Terrible judgement?
How do I get to the stage of having a functional relationship based on love and mutual respect?
Not sure what this self-indulgent rant is for. Thanks for reading if you got this far.