WAW says I'm the "perfect husband and partner"

[Jamine]

I know I'm not actually perfect - there was some bitterness in the title when I wrote it, trying to emphasize my confusion between W's words, actions, and phases.

At first, I thought I was doing the "noble" thing by agreeing to leave the house. I thought that if I gave her real space, without contact, she might miss me. I realize now that this wasn't the way to go, but I've got to live with this mistake. I will plan to live in MY home when I return from Asia. She knows that I'm planning to come back there, and there was no date set for me to move out or anything.

I'm doing a lot of things wrong, but I know I'm doing a lot of things right too.
- I take care of myself and my looks. I always dress well.
- I'm in pretty good shape already, and just joined a new HIT gym and did my first workout this morning. It felt great.
- I'm trying to GAL. I have some close friends that live in the city I'm currently parked in, and plan to connect with them ASAP.

- I definitely have issues with confrontation. I'm not scared of being yelled at or physically harmed, but I used to work in the service industry for many years and "Yes" has just been beat into me. I hate the idea of disappointing someone, but I'm actively working on this. I just read "The Courage to Be Disliked" and it gave me a much better perspective.
- I've always been a "nice guy" and a sap with women. I have to break this habit.

I'm curious if anyone has a perspective about 180s vs. validating. My wife's last message to me last night was about her day, and I did not reply to this because I thought since I was LRTing this was the right way to go, and she expects me to reply. Would a better approach be to validate with a simple message like, "I'm glad you had a good day."?