My marriage. During my marriage I would not share my feelings. My friends would know of certain emotions and events before my wife did. A sex starved marriage syndrome developed. I knew a marriage should not be like this and that something was deeply wrong, yet I did nothing to change the status quo. Passiveness was how I was. By avoiding every single time discussing problems I hoped to get some more time to breathe until the next time. My W became more and more bitter towards me. I was afraid of her, of confronting her, even when she despised me. At a certain point I started hating my M. In order to be able to bear it and I made a promise to hold on until my youngest son would go to college. I did nothing to change things. And then the Bomb was dropped. I did all the initial mistakes. In November 2014 I found this forum. I bought the DR and read it all. I started applying the LRT. In January 2015 W announced she would only stay in this foreign land until June 2015, when the kids would start their school holidays. I started sleeping on the MBR floor. I established several goals: - I want to stay in the same room without discomfort; - I want to still be together by April; - I want to sleep in the same bed with W; - I want to look into her eyes and smile when the kids do something funny, and her into mine; - I want for her to initiate some conversation about trivial matters with me; - I want for her to come with us on our family trips during school breaks. I became distant but polite. I focused even more on my kids. They were my main GAL. I became a very good dad, firm and attentive to their needs. I started going for walks after dinner. Slowly I started feeling the ice melting away. W started touching me occasionally. 12 April I decided I should sleep in the bed, which I did with no opposition. We started slightly touching in bed. End of May in bed I held her without opposition. We started having very long conversations in bed, during which I was able to share my feelings as never before. W said I was a different person. In June we reconciled. W decided to stay abroad with me one more year. She extended her unpaid leave until 2016. We enrolled the kids for one more year at school. During that period I started acting again as her husband, treating her as my precious princess. In July the kids and she flew home. W stopped contacts until I flew home in August. She then said she wanted to divorce me. I did not expect this at all. September 2015 she found a new flat for her and the kids. I started again to put some distance between us but we acted as a regular family. 1 October the kids and she moved out. My present main goals, considering that I do not want to get W back any more (que sera sera): - To know myself and understand how and why I became to be who I am; - To become aware of my feelings; - To express my feelings; - To stop being ashamed of wanting what I want. - To keep practicing on my kids what I learned by reading the book “Raising an emotionally intelligent child”. What I have accomplished so far: - I shave every day and put cologne for the first time in my life; - I started playing classical guitar after a 20 year stop; - I started freely listening to classical music without being ashamed of it; - I started therapy with an IC. It has been a wonderful experience of self-discovery. - I started meditating regularly after having taken part on an online course. - I take my kids on long trips abroad without feeling guilt or empty because W is not coming. - I am currently taking a Berkeley online course on Happiness. This is my main GAL activity, with several practical exercises to be done as homework. - I exercise regularly at home, since I don’t have time to go to a gym. - I have connected with my mother, sister and younger brother, with my uncle and aunt, after several years of superficial attachment. I keep regular contact with them and open myself to them. - I read almost daily DB Forum, which is my main source of inspiration.
Me43 W39 M 12y,T 15y S09,S07 Bomb Jun14 Sleeping separately Jan/Mar15 Share bed Mar/May15 Reconcile Jun15 Aug15 W sais D will happen D told to kids Sept15 W moved out with kids 01 October15