After years of misery, emotional and financial abuse and being repeatedly cheated on by my exH, I am in a totally wonderful relationship with an equally wonderful man. We've been together nearly 6 months and we both agree we can see this having a future. He is amazing and reminding me exactly of how I deserve to be treated by someone. He is absolutely great.
My question is not really anything about him or anything he's done or not done. We communicate easily and openly and he knows and understands the big steps I'm taking with him in trusting someone again and letting him in. How do you move beyond that fear factor of being hurt or rejected again? I've said to him that I truly believe he is worth every bit of "risk" I might feel in being vulnerable to someone again. Is it just a case of pushing through the fears and letting time prove me wrong? He is always consistent, transparent and upfront. It's all simple with him. I know how he feels about me. Yet I still find myself feeling like I need to protect my heart from potential hurt. I know it's only natural after an awful marriage, but how do I keep moving through those feelings to not fret about things? Like...for me, suggesting we do something and maybe he says no because he's busy or has something else on...my logical head knows that's totally fine but somewhere inside it makes me think "he's rejecting you when you've put yourself out there to suggest some time together". Argh. How do I not let this overthinking take over? It was always going to feel this way being in a relationship again. I've done so much work on my healing and myself. I always knew it would feel a risk to open up again and let myself feel for someone again after everything.