Glad to hear you are dealing well with the disappointment. I hope the takeaway you get is that there is no R there to work on. There is nothing to resolve. It matters no more what he thinks of you than what my neighbor thinks of you.
The point of the article has nothing to do with how others react to you, really. It is about the point of what you are doing when examining your life — when it is helpful and when it is not. Seeking out old pain as comfortingly familiar is not helpful. Processing old pain to get rid of the garbage and gain a healthier mental outlook is helpful.
Regarding your actions sealing the fate of your M, that is just another story you are telling yourself to feel as if you have some control. Let it go. You aren't that powerful, and that in the end is a good thing.
