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Heart Chronicles – Love Hurts

Doesn’t it sometimes feel like love isn’t meant to hit you the way it has others? You know, you’ve had relatively successful relationships, but for one reason or the other they never seem to make over the last hurdle to long time sustained happiness. Whether it be your young and dumb and trying to live life or you deal with someone who has self esteem issues and they prevent them from fully trusting in you and the foundation that you all built. Only to turn to the opposite race and settle for less, when the world was your oasis with you. Maybe you come across that person who is trying to pick themselves up after a horrible breakup and they aren’t ready for all of you even though they profess that they are. Maybe you come across someone who’s use to doing the break up to make up bit with someone and so they only know how to have toxic relationship practices and they bring them into the relationship with you.

It could also be possible that you deal with a fake and fraud. Someone who is pretending to want long term happiness and relations, only to protect their own interests. You know, maybe they need a place to stay because they really don’t have no where to go, so you become the means to an end. And it could just be that you aren’t ready yourself. You are recovering from bad relationships and hurtful past dealings. Truth is I want to be happy and married and loved on by that man who wants to ride with me just the same as I’m going to ride for him. The problem is, too many niggas want to play games and be tepid about committing because they feel like they’re going to miss something. Seeing people who came along and didn’t appreciate what I brought to the table, or I wasn’t prepared for them, involved with someone else is a bitter sweet pill. On the one hand, I’m truly happy for them and glad they found happiness. On the other, I’m very disappointed, especially if I gave the very best of me, that they didn’t show me the same love and effort they show their current.

Something I don’t understand though, is every single person that I’ve ever been with, except one, has always tried to come back and have something with me after we ended. There is an admission that they haven’t found anyone who loved and appreciated them the way that I did. And while I appreciate them saying it, it pisses me off because why the fuck couldn’t you appreciate me when we were together. Maybe then we would still be together. Quite possibly we could be married, having a family and living the life that we wanted to live. It makes me wonder if I’m doomed to be alone until the end. Sprinkled with intermittent relationships that help to pass time and fill the gaps until it’s time for me to leave this earth. It just seems like this is one thing that always been just a little out of reach for a reason unknown to me. I have never been able to fully understand why I’m never really appreciated but I can tell you that it hurts. Because most times people just want to feel appreciated by those they love, especially inside of a relationship. And then to see them give that effort to someone else does make you kinda question why not you?

This blog doesn’t seek to find a solution because there is no way to know when love is going to find you and who it will be. But sitting here writing this and thinking back, damn man I’ve been fucked over more than I can remember. From being in love with my first and him not having self trust and restraint to believe in us. To my ten years love affair off and one with a man who use to treat me like a king, but he could never fully commit himself to me. There was the light skin pretty boy that I didn’t see coming, who seemed to really enjoy the dynamic we created, only to show that was the means to his end for him. The insecure guy who had all the promise in the world, but was too stuck on the irrelevant shit that caused things to go off the rails. The young twink who was ready to make it us versus the world, but was wayy too arrogant and controlling. The young hustler who was trying to make a name for himself, that I didn’t give the time to finish developing into the finished product. The lying drug head that wound up destroying my life with abuse and lies. The sweet young man who gave me his heart but wasn’t ready for the full commitment.

These represent, to me, the closest relationships that could have ended in the forever. And then there were the few friends with benefits, where the chemistry was there but I guess the timing was just wrong. They were still more about being free to do what they want but wanted that consistently great sex that we had together. All of these things man and not one developed into forever. People saying years later that they wanted to be something serious with me. Only they never showed or admitted to such when we were dealing at the time. So why the fuck would you bring it up right now? Why would you want to bring it up if you have intention of acting on those words? Pulling at the heart strings and emotions, bull shit at it’s best if you ask me. Have you had these types of experiences? Talk to me or your friends about it. Comments always welcome.

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Heart Chronicles – Heart break

If you have ever had your heart broken or you have had any traumatic event happen, you know that sometimes you become stuck in that moment. By that I mean that you’re emotions and mindset can somewhat become “stuck”, needing to be freed from that moment that placed in a emotional state of paralysis. The truth is when those events happen to you it takes something from you. It can rob you of an innocence or a naiveite towards people and/or life. These moments in time have a way of intertwining in your life and making you feel a sense of emptiness or loss. If you have multiples of these types of experiences in a short period of time, it can serve as a mechanism for which you become depressed or emotionally detached. It can cause you to lose track of yourself and lose touch with the currentness of the world because mentally you’re still locked into those moments that life changed for you. Understand that these moments can be of any variety. They can be physical abuse, emotional trauma, mental anguish, and any combination of those things. If you have been through it and overcome that hurdle then you know that what I’m referring to is real .

One of the truths I have to admit about my life is that I’ve experienced so many of these types of moments that I don’t really know if I’m broken, torn, destroyed or on the road to healing. Some days I feel as if I’m coming through the other side of all the traumas I’ve experienced within the past couple years. Other times, I feel like I’m stuck in the middle of it. Not sure which way to turn, being tossed between feeling good one day and feeling depressed the next. I wonder how is it that I possess so many good qualities according to others, yet I’m unable to keep a partner fully satisfied. I’m unable to prevent my would be baby mother from killing our unborn child. I’m unable to prevent from being physically assaulted and abused. I’m unable to prevent so called friends from completely breaching the friendship and trust that I thought we had. It makes you wonder why and it makes you question yourself.

Then there are the other natural things that you have no control over, but sometimes happen in surprising fashion and it throws you for even more of a tailspin that you expected. Losing your grandmother and protector before you expected or were ready for. Having your cousin shockingly die of heart failure with no warning. Losing one of your favorite aunts without warning either. All of these things happening within the past 16 months and then you add to it losing your unborn twins to miscarriage a little more than a year ago. All of these things combined with the abuse, the mistreatment, the abandonment of long time friends leads you to feeling worthless at times. Makes you feel alone at other times. And to be clear, I have no problem being by myself, I learned how to be ok with that. But, it’s hard being lonely and feeling alone sometimes. It doesn’t help when you’re trying to heal. Yes, sometimes the journey is meant for just you, but even along the way you need cheerleaders and supporters rooting you on, even if from afar.

It can’t be understated just how much massive trauma can cause you to not believe in yourself and to make you feel a sense of pause within yourself. You physically continue and keep doing what must be done because you have to be an adult and take care of yourself and your business, but internally your a mess, destroyed, wishing that you could turn back the clock to take back the emotional blood spilled. Wishing you could reach back and pull the mental train wreck back so you can make the whole you, and not exist in broken pieces for the world to absorb. It can lead to you being very sporadic and all over the place. It can lead you to just wanting to be alone and wallow in your own self pity for a time. Honestly, it can also make you highly sexual, but very sexually irresponsible. Allowing yourself to do things that maybe you shouldn’t do, but wanting to feel that gratification from someone else may just make you want to push the limits you know you shouldn’t cross.

I don’t always pretend to have the answers to solve every problem, especially the ones that I have. What I do try to do is talk and think and write, to express my feelings, emotions and pain and hopefully through expressing and releasing it into the atmosphere it will help to bring about healing and closure. Dealing with the folks, in some way, who played a role in the traumatic events occurring, hoping that we can find closure and with the closing of those chapters finding some peace and allowing myself to be made whole again, to take myself off pause, push play and be as current as I can be. Stay strong, stay encouraged and find your release valve. These things will help to get you through. And above all, find a support system and use it to the fullest extent possible.

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Hard or Soft.. Masculine or Feminine

I’ve written in the past about the dynamic in the gay community where masculinity or femininity is based upon one’s sexual position rather than the personality and appearance given. I want to revisit that because after a recent conversation I feel like, especially in the Black Gay community, this is still a BIG mischaracterization and it shouldn’t still be happening so prevalently. It needs to be understood that just because one is versatile or a bottom, that it doesn’t automatically mean they’re soft or feminine or less masculine that a top or vers top. Let’s get into this conversation point just a little deeper.

When I was talking to this friend, he said that he can’t date someone who is versatile because they aren’t masculine enough. That essentially, because they took dick, they can’t be hard or dominant enough to handle a fully submissive bottom. I challenged that assertion because I was trying to figure out how did he come to that conclusion? I thought that we had gotten a littler further past the point of position determining dominance. His response is typical of what you hear from gays. He said “I don’t know, I just assumed because they taking dick that they can’t be that dominant or masculine.” I laughed at that notion, thinking to myself, damn are we still living in the early 2000’s or early 2010’s? I mean damn what really makes someone think that only taking dick is the definition of being dominant or submissive? Well, I had to remind him that there are many masculine and dominant bottoms that exist. In fact, especially in Atlanta, there are far more manish bottoms that there are manish tops. LOL, if you disagree with this opinion, just ask some gays in this city, they will tell you. You can find a solid top, but there will always be a little more sweet twist to them than you might expect.

And to me that’s normal anyway. I mean as a gay man that’s what makes it so much fun. I can be a dominant or alpha type man and still like to have a big, eccentric personality as well. I can be the one normally controlling the relationship and still like to take dick from time to time if I decide I want to. Or, I can just be with a bottom who loves to please me and be just as satisfied. The complexity of being a gay man should be embraced and accepted, as opposed to trying to over simplify people into a category based on whether or not you take some wood in your hole. I never really understand the need for that this of discussion anyway. LOL, I mean yes I do get it and realize that people find the need to quickly box folks so they can make quick decisions, but I think that takes away from the dynamic of learning and knowing each other. Sometimes the right one for you will be right there, but because you make an baseless assumption, based on one thing instead of knowing them could make you miss out on that right one.

I don’t plan to get too deeply involved in this conversation because I feel that this stereotype is changing, but I just felt the need to come back and readdress this because I’ve heard this a little more often that I thought I would. Like why would you want someone to be just so stock standard to something? I think the different personality traits and dynamics is what makes the art of finding a love match so intriguing, but also so frustrating at times. Love yourself and the skin you’re in, but also be open to accepting that dominance and masculinity comes in different forms and in different packages. Maybe, opening your mind to that will allow for you to find the love that you want. I always say, if you’re only use to looking for the same thing, in the same place, you will continue to get the same failing results.

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Heart Chronicles

Sometimes things will happen in life that make you question did something previously that was intentionally designed to prepare you for the next time, or was it just a real coincidence? I have a hard time really understanding why a situation will happen, only for it to come back around sooner than you expect it to. When you have two of the same situations back to back, your mind goes crazy trying to understand what should you do. Do you allow yourself to give that new person a second chance, or do you take a lesson from the prior situation and distance yourself from them as well?

The truth is I don’t know if there is a singular right answer. I think it all depends on the individuals involved and what caused things to end with that person. Ironically, in this case, the situations are actually almost mirror images of each other. The only difference maybe being the personalities of the two people. Otherwise, both of them are the same type, with the same setup that caused all of this to be unsettling to me. It has caused me to have more pause than a little bit and it makes me think about whether or not I’ve made the right choices. Someone who without a doubt makes me feel good and special. Someone who shows me love beyond what they get out of me. More than just a token nod or bullshit statement out of their mouth.

At the same time, my mind is brandished with how it all tumbled down. How the abandonment was swift and blind-sided. How there was no warning or any discussion of the issues that made him feel that needed to distance himself from me. Same setup as someone different over a year ago. No reason given, no explanation presented, just disappeared for a year and then randomly out the blue, boom, pops back up. Offers his story and apology, pleads against my emotions and feelings that I had buried for him, asking for a second chance. Having conversation for hours to make sure that this was something serious, that it wasn’t going to be another game that would have a random and heart wrenching ending.

As hard as I tried and as much as I was guarded against the possible games to be played, it turned out to be exactly the same almost as the first time. This time after nearly six months of living together and experiencing difficulties together. Learning more of the deeper and more emotional parts of our past, bonding on what I thought was foundational strengthening, but turned out to be time filling bullshit. I can’t really understand why someone would want to do that to someone. Why would you waste time like that? Why would you want to expose parts of your story, that you claim are sacred to you, if all you intended to do was walk out randomly, with no warning, with no explanation, with no answers provided.

As crazy as it sounds, I really did all I could to protect against this outcome. I gave my heart to the relationship, I put my own flair on things, but I also made sure to not just completely lose myself in building a potential forever. I was not going to allow myself to waste my time if I could spot shit before it happens. And yet, I was unable to do it again. I was blind-sided yet again. I was turned away for simply being me, after being told that I was wanted for just simply being me. And here comes another man, different in every way from the first, but with the exact same kind of situation that the first man presented. He came along and was an amazing guy. Pushed me in some ways and I pushed him in other ways. We made a special bond over a 7 month period, only for him to run away, no notice, no reason given.

He stayed away for a year as well, only to return to my life and give the same apologies and regretful diatribe that the first man had given to me. I made a very intentional effort to let him know that I had just went through this exact same scenario a couple months prior and I’m not interested in having this shit happen to me again. The torment and anger that festered within me was deep and burning bright. I was trying to be open to this man, while also knowing he was just like the man I had to say goodbye to without understanding why. And here is where the difficulty and complexity comes into play.

I’ve made a history of telling friends and family that you can’t convict the next person for what the last person did. You can’t hold the next one accountable for what the prior person got away with. You can only learn and grow to not allow it to happen again, but you must give each person a fair chance. However, this seems to be the rare exception to that rule in a couple ways. This case involves someone who previously did the exact same thing as the first man. Nothing at all different about how they did it. The reasonings given by both men are actually damn near the same. Being in bad places mentally and emotionally. Needing to cleanse themselves and clear their minds of the things that they had been through and had going on.

Can you see just how challenging this is for me now. I want to have love and be loved. I want to have someone who wants to be with me for me. Who isn’t afraid to put their love out there to be matched by mines. Making themselves vulnerable enough to be loved and not so scared that they run away when it gets too real I suppose. The heart wants to be loved and it wants to be protected. It wants to feel appreciated and accepted. Dealing with this situation is immensely challenging and I don’t know if I can really go through with this or not. But I’m trying to fight the urge to pull away. I’m trying to allow this love to show me it’s different than the one before.

Anybody been through something like this? Talk back.. post your comments.. lets discuss..

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Heart Chronicles

There comes a point in your love life when your heart just can’t take anymore bullshit and creates the space for a hardened form yourself to exist, which can ruin the chances of you finding your special match that out there waiting for you. It’s difficult to turn away from that when you have had that love you give taken advantage of numerous times. Keep in mind, it doesn’t mean that it happens the same way each time. This is a case where different people inflict different types of hurt that cause you to want to stray away from seeking love and finding happiness with a special someone. Maybe there is solution and maybe the solution is just the one that you present, but either way, let’s see if we can determine how to let the love live without killing you inside in the process.

We all know the addicting and powerful effect that love can have on us as people. Our hearts yearn for that acceptance and togetherness that being in love brings. It allows you to see past flaws of one person to get to the core and heart of them instead. You want to allow yourself to be vulnerable enough to allow someone to touch the parts of you that you reserve for someone that you truly feel is worth that experience. You anticipate having someone that you share your inner most thoughts with, someone that knows the deep, dark secrets that you hold so close you will go to your grave with them, be it not for that person you love. All of these things and more you want to experience with just one person, and when the person you think is that one turns out not to be, it just depends on how you find that out as to how much of that burning love flame will die down.

If you have what is considered a normal breakup, you know arguments or just to many differences to work, then you accept that maybe that person was meant to open your mind to certain parts of life, but that ultimately they weren’t that one and you allow yourself to continue on the journey. You take the time to recover from the emotional scars of the relationship and set your sights on being ready for the next one to come along. Not knowing if they will be teaching a lesson, robbing your time and heart, or here for the ride until the end. That is what we all hope to have from the failed relationships, yet more often than not, that’s not what you get though. Now we come across people who have nefarious motives. They want their survival to be so big time that they are willing to lie and abuse the love you give in order to maintain their lifestyle and survival that it tears you down in the process.

You see it is this type of relationship that the path of heart hardening gets sped up like a runaway freight train. Because it exposes you to the toxic nature of users. They know how to talk the bullshit better than most. Always keeping you lured in with the whims of your desires and stories of past pains they’re trying to move beyond themselves. And just how much you’re helping with your open and honest approach with them. While, they’re “recovering” they’re using all your energy, love and maybe even finances to get themselves better. This person is dangerous because they can take you for everything if they play the long game. Or even if they don’t they can leave you feeling raped of all that you work hard to store and give to someone deserving. When it’s all said and done, you have that feeling of despair and you struggle to make sense of the how and why. How did they get over and why would they choose to be users. Maybe their past pain just permeates their mind and as the old saying goes.. Hurt people, hurt people.

It’s a damaging psychological concept, but one that has one hundred percent validity. The cycle of making someone else feel the pain you feel, is as human as the cycle of the hopeless romantic, willing to be open to love at all costs. They come from the natural instincts of people. One a desire to protect yourself and inflict hurt on someone else to free it from yourself. The other, to never give up on the idea of sharing life with someone. Not wanting to be alone all your life. That is where these two mind sets overlap in my opinion. They both want to avoid that feeling of being alone, so you allow yourself to believe in things or behave in such a way that isn’t as healthy as you should be, but it’s attempting to satisfy a means to an end and real logic doesn’t really matter right now.

Yes there are many different levels to being a hopeless romantic and a jilted or scorned lover, this writing is really looking at the more extreme ends of these dynamics. The individuals who because of the hurts and abuses suffered are either so willing to believe in love that they are willing to disregard the norms or guardrails that protect you, or the person that’s been hurt so bad or so many times that they would rather inflict that type of pain on someone else so that they can say it doesn’t reside within them anyone. Usually, the person that they inflict that hurt to is one who doesn’t deserve it. It’s the person that was sent to help them really heal and be better than they are, but they’re blinded and so the cycle doesn’t break it continues.

I sit here so many times wondering why have I been chosen by so many different types of men to be their hurt person. The person that they give their hurt to by hurting me because of their past pains. It’s not something I seek or even can say I allow. I just feel that everyone deserves to be loved and have an opportunity to have someone be in their corner without using them or expecting them to “do something” in return. The price I’ve paid has been steep. I’ve lost everything I’ve worked for in life before. I’ve lost stability and happiness. I’ve lost blood and tears. I’ve lost time and love. Having these situations happen to you, create scars that over time can heal, but also over time can really harden. They make more willing to accept being alone and they start to turn some of that sweet, naïve love into a form of bitter love. Where you will love but with an eye bent towards protection from someone instead of protection by someone.

Sadly these stories are written all throughout history and time. People being jilted by past lovers, rushing too quickly into the next situation and hurting that lover. Or, just thinking that they’ve sufficiently addressed the past pain, only to find out they haven’t and the next lover paying the price for the former. We know the stories and drills so there is no need to pretend it doesn’t exist. For all those, we have all those instances as well of people actually doing the work to heal and not letting the next person pay for the last person. But the point is this, pain causes reactions and emotions that we don’t know until it happens. The deeper the pain the more radical the reactions. The more unexpected the hurt, the more punishing the next hurt will be. Instead of being willing to hurt the next one so you feel better about the last one. Try to sit and make yourself really better, that way the next one might stand the real chance of being the last one. Because they could have been sent to give you everything you need and almost all of what you want.

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Heart Chronicles

One of the hardest things to do is to recover from a relationship without closure. I think that when you have so many questions that aren’t answered and you have no true reason as to why things ended so abruptly, it makes you examine and over examine things to try to find the solution. It creates the constant state of uncertainty. It makes you not sure of yourself from a compatibility stand point. I say that because if you don’t really know why someone chose to leave a situation that didn’t have any obvious or clear issues, you know that there was some underlying issue at play. You just aren’t sure if it was you or the other person that really caused that issue to exist. You wonder what you did or said that may have triggered something that caused them say the can’t continue further.

It leaves you with a sense of turmoil and a lack of understanding. You frequently question yourself when you have time alone to yourself to think about what happened. There is no way to resolve those questions within a short period of time. You have to let your mind wonder, if only to find its own answers that can be logical enough for you accept it as reality and allow you to move forward the best that you can. But, this usually also results in you feeling sort of bland about yourself. Yes, it’s possible that you could convince yourself that it wasn’t anything you did, that it was all about the other person. Other times, and more likely, you find yourself wondering if it was a con job. Were you being played, just so that they could achieve whatever goal they had in their mind.

It is often the second scenario that causes the most heart ache and disappointment. I am willing to bet that in that scenario, both of you expressed your love for each other, planned to build life together, considered yourselves to be likeminded souls who were yearning for that person that would understand you and be ready to grow together. You’re left feeling abandoned and alone. It really doesn’t matter if you have others who are trying to pursue you after this failure. You don’t really want to have their affection and you aren’t wanting to return the energy they are putting out. What you really want is just have time to yourself to wallow, but you aren’t able to do that because you know that you can’t afford to shut down.

If you are someone who relates to this, I can only offer you this kind of advice: Allow your mind the freedom to roam and reflect on all that has happened. Allow your emotions to bubble up to the surface and display themselves. But do not sit and wallow in your pain for too long. Use your coping mechanisms to overcome this situation. If you love music, listen to songs that will allow you to shed the tears you wish to shed and also to begin to rebuild you and encourage you thru the process. Don’t feel obligated to share the details of your breakup with anybody. Don’t feel pressure to discuss that person at all. Take time to heal as much as you need before you decide to talk about any of this. Involving too many people will only make it worse for yourself. In time you will be able to express as much or as little of it as you wish to those around you.

Depending on how deeply involved you were with this person you will have a shorter or longer recovery period. Depending on how much of yourself you put into the relationship, you will have longer moments of grief and disbelief. Only time will be able to resolve the conflict that roars within you. The answers that you’re looking for will only come as time passes and hopefully you still let yourself be open to love so you can see why you had to go through that situation in order to prepare you for the next one or the one after that. Don’t allow this to completely destroy you or discourage you from wanting to date and have love again. Some day someone will come along who will truly appreciate you for you and will want you for you.

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Rising Phoneix

If you are familiar with the metaphorical Phoenix, then you understand that to be called a Phoenix is both a blessing and a curse. This post strips away the physical form of this beautiful creature and focuses on the characteristics and how they apply to the human self and how it is impacted. From my point of view the Phoenix being has great strength and passion. A love that burns bright and pure. They give of themselves unapologetically, and yet is often taken for granted and mistreated. They are underappreciated and not given their flowers until after they’ve moved on from those that have damaged them. They and others marvel at their ability to recover and rebuild from devastation and hurt. It can often times create a twisted addiction to the thrill and flame out, but eventually that strength becomes it’s weakness. That fire burns too bright and too long and they just can’t take anymore. Causing another beautiful soul to turn black and either wither away or retreat into a more introverted way of being.

I think that the general guiding premise for the Phoenix like personality, is that you are at the core a pure soul. You have intentions that are only good. You love with clear and vibrant passion. You have an energy and fire about you that is contagious and unmistakable. People often gravitate towards you, but also away from you because your fire is bright and almost always positive. That keeps away those who seek to have you toiling in their negativity. It is something that leaves you prone to being more alone at times because your strength of character doesn’t allow you to be manipulated easily into wrong doing. Or contributing to unsuccessful behavior. Your strength of purpose and resolve makes others envious at times and that also creates a void of friends. Usually that means when you truly make genuine friendships, they last a long time.

The weakness though of the type of individual is a part of their strength. The power of their flame can be used against them. The actions and doings of others impacts the Phoenix person greatly. So imagine that someone is able to get close to you and then abuses you. Takes advantage of the loving and kind and generous nature that you operate from. Once you have removed the rose hue that you look at them with, it is innate within you to now defend yourself from that. But, when it’s someone that you love and care for deeply, you struggle to use that flame to properly extinguish them. Instead you let your blue flame burn enough to shield you, while still being impacted by that negative red flame. It creates a pain that tolerate because you have the strength to withstand it. But the question is for how long and at what cost?

How long will you let that person affect you and how much are you willing to pay in order to let this happen. Are you willing to lose your career, health, internal peace, external happiness and all the possessions that you have worked for, all in the name of loving someone? All because you know that deep down, once you truly activate that Phoenix spirit and character within, you will rise again from the destruction, battered but intact. But the question is how intact are you? Are you losing pieces of yourself every time you have to rise again from the proverbial grave? And then it prompts me to think about the concept that’s presented in one of the mythical stories about the Phoenix bird. That after time, the animal grew tired of living eternally and always being able to reprise itself after flaming out and burning. So it eventually gave up that eternal rebirth and allow itself to be extinguished.

My take on the human characteristic of the Phoenix is that there comes a time when that Phoenix within has had enough. It can’t take the burning flames any longer. It doesn’t have the same energy to give and it eventually gives up. This of course, is if that person isn’t able to find what their inner Phoenix really wants. Someone to tame that flame. To love them and care for them as passionately as they do. Give their full effort and energy so the inner Phoenix doesn’t feel the need to be ignited and burning all the time. When this occurs, it is my belief that then that inner Phoenix can survive, recharge and be prepared should it need to be activated again for a prolonged period of time.

I don’t believe that everyone has an inner Phoenix or better yet, is a Phoenix. It is given to select people, but it’s not hard to detect. Primarily because that energy radiates off the person. It can always be felt. They have a constant warmth to their body because the energy from the fire burns strong. If you are one of these people, let that Phoenix protect you as much as it can, but also be open to letting someone ease that flame, just be careful who you select. If you are the person that gets to be with someone who has this Phoenix quality, understand they are special and will be unlike any person before or after them.

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Broken Vessel

I have tried numerous times over the years to impress upon people how important it is for there to be open communication and total truth within your relationship. Those are two of the most important elements that must be present, along with love, passion and togetherness, in order a relationship to have the success it deserves. When these elements are missing, it creates a tension that has to be alleviated by talking out the issue to resolve the situation and restore the full circle of the relationship. It defies my understanding why someone would choose not to be open and honest with their partner when there has always been established communications lines that have allowed for sharing of deep personal secrets and addressing of the issues.

Let me explain and let me help you understand why the “avoid confrontation” type is harmful to a healthy relationship. If you have built a solid foundation for your relationship, most likely you and your partner have established solid lines of communication. That means you guys can talk about the fun and entertaining things, as well as the more serious and complicated issues that may arise. If this is in place, it would be very unsettling if one of you decided to up and leave without warning, without explanation and void of conflict that is threating to your relationship. Enter, the “averse to conflict” type individual here. It has become my belief that the person who says they don’t like conflict within their relationship, is someone who isn’t mentally mature to handle the complex dynamics of a relationship. They are also a huge threat to the peace within that you create for yourself.

It has always been my belief that all relationships need a healthy dose of conflict resolution. The conflicts are the things that let you see the type of person you’re embarking on your journey with. It lets you know if you have a quitter, or someone who is more a support type or someone who is a lead Alpha and wants to make sure they can address anything head on to make things better. Either way, conflict resolution takes two to create the conflict and two to resolve such issue. It means that both parties are engaged and ready to work through the issues, and it also means that there is an honesty and openness discussing the situations. If you are the person who says you are “conflict averse” then you are the threat to this resolution being successful.

The person who wants to avoid conflict, is one who on the norm, will be open and honest about everything else within the relationship. They will be willing to tell you the things that are deeply personal about them. They will communicate their likes and dislikes. Sexually you guys can have a very satisfying sex life and have the intimacy you desire. They are flexible and willing to be compromise. But, be warned, when there is conflict that they can’t easily handle, or when their way isn’t the way accepted going forward, the end result will likely be a removal of themselves from the relationship, not a solution to the problem. This characterization is not meant to encompass all people who have this type of character, because we all know people are different. It is a generalized premise, but I can tell you it has more factual following than not. And people who are Type A lite personalities will fall into this category more often than not.

Unfortunately I recently had to go through this exact situation and the results left this vessel broken. It was the vile and nasty way in which the situation was handled. It to me was uncaring and unempathetic. It reeked of selfishness and self gratification. I would have never thought that someone would have such a callous game plan that they would build up all this good will and “love”, only to destroy all of it in the blink of an eye. This with no warning or explanation. No rationale given, no conversation had to gain understanding or resolution before simply bolting at the first opportunity presented. To be clear things were being portrayed as rosy and well. Communications had were preparing for the future, planning date nights and a impending move within the next couple months. All of it flushed in a matter of an hour.

When you are already questioning yourself because of things prior that you are still resolving internally, to have a lover briskly remove themselves, with no warning is jarring and damaging. Hell if all was right within you, something like this would leave you shaken. But when it something that was a year and half in the building and the open dialog happened without effort, it leaves you questioning what really was going on/ How long had the plan been to exit stage left. It makes you wonder if they were faithful to you the whole time, It puts the spotlight on you, rather than where it should be. On the person who did such a cowardly, fuck nigga thing. It creates so much hurt and anger. Not being able to establish any level of closure, because you don’t know why and you don’t know where they are in order to close the book. So you have to sit with lingering questions, a damaged heart and a broken vessel.

If you know that you’re someone who isn’t good at conflict resolution, try talking to your partner before you just walk out on them. Give it a chance to work. Maybe you will find that you are better at resolving conflict that you thought you were. Conflict is character building and relationship building. You grow stronger together when you face a challenge and overcome it as a unit, rather than trying to handle it all by yourself, or completely removing yourself all together as a means to avoid challenge or critique. None of us are perfect. None of us have all the answers, Therefore, we need to be challenged and opened up to other ways of thinking that are positive and helpful because they help us grow as people.

I never thought that I would go through this because I pride myself on being an open and honest listener and communicator. I always aim to make sure my partner is comfortable and feels comfortable talking to me about anything at any time. I know men have a hard time, sometimes, expressing those things that emotional or complex, but if you want to have a healthy and lasting relationship, you have to learn how to do so. Lean on your lover and let them help guide you until you find your own footing, That is part of the reason that you’re with someone. To share the journey of life together, to learn and grow from and with each other. Sadly that didn’t happen here. Instead it all now feels fake and contrived. The worst part is I don’t get the chance to ask why and have my questions answered. You left without a trace, only a sticky note with no explanation, just an I’m sorry. It feels like the final straw. The blow that breaks the bow. Who resurfaces from this, I don’t know, but definitely not the person I know inside.

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Heart Chronciles

I am a firm believer that once people begin to consistently show you the signs of who they intend to be in your relationship, you have three options in my opinion. You can accept what you’re shown and adjust accordingly, you can attempt to make them bend towards the characteristics you prefer, or you can have a conversation if what you are seeing is different than the words you have heard and are hearing to get an understanding of why, to see if there is room for growth and flexibility or if the situation is going to not resolve itself and and because the person you actually are with isn’t who they talked about being. For me I have taken all three approaches in the past and with varying degrees of success.

I’m sure that there are many people out there who can relate to a situation/subject like this one. One where you have a person that is a good person and for the most part they fit with you on a relationship level, but you feel that something just doesn’t feel quite right. You get the feeling that while they’re a good fit, they aren’t the fit that you know it should be. You have questions as to whether you need more time for each of you to grow together and maybe for some of the personal challenges or both of you are going through to subside, or is it a case of a person hyping themselves up and they aren’t able to be who they told you they were and you need to decide if you want to stay in something that doesn’t make you fully happy and satisfied. It is complicated by the fact that earlier in the relationship you saw almost off the things that you were told you would see, so you know that it’s inside the person. The question is what changed that holds them back now?

It is my belief that when time starts to pass and you start to see someone change in a significant way, you have to allow them time to reverse that trend, if nothing occurred between the two of you, before you just bring the conversation to the table. That way when you do have the heart to heart that will be needed there won’t be room for just give time. I think that line is one that is a crutch used far too often and it’s one that is so subjective. Honestly when someone says that, how much time are they wanting you to give them? The truth is that time itself, the noun form is infinite. Time doesn’t end, but time the adjective form used to describe what we have on this Earth is small and wasting it isn’t fair. It can be a rather selfish ask if you know that you won’t have the situation or issues worked out in short order.

It is my belief that people often will find someone they know can be their security blanket or their crutch in some fashion if they’re trying to rebuild a portion or all of themselves. It too is a selfish move and one that can cause resentment on the other persons behalf. if they figure out that they’re being used as more of a rebound or a regroup instead of really trying to be immersed in a relationship wholly independent of the past, building towards a strong present and even stronger future. In too many circumstances a person will want to use the words they’ve said as their support that they want you or use past actions that aren’t relevant to current dynamics in order to show that they want something. Forgetting that action isn’t just past tense thing, it very much so is present and as actions change feelings change with it. It is this dynamic that most skip when discussing how a relationship breaks down that could provide the clarity and the evidence that shuts down a retort of see what I did in the past.

The outcomes of these types of relationships are wide spread and aren’t really predictable unless you see such a dramatic shift that you aren’t interested in what you see. One thing I don’t want and have never allowed myself to do is be in one of those relationships where you decide to split, and then days later or a week or two later, you reverse course for no real reason and keep going through the same shit over and over. I don’t think that’s fair to anybody. It traps you in something that is really making you more resentful to the person and you’re resenting yourself. Because in that scenario, there isn’t anybody getting what they really want. You want to see change and you want to have what you had but it isn’t coming and you’re settling because you fear starting over and not having someone. The worst reason ever to stay in a relationship with someone.

I favor the patient but decisive approach to things. Talk and be clear and direct about what you want and what the issues are at hand, give time for discussion to resonate and thoughts to be had and changes to be made, then make a decision after you feel that sufficient time has passed. Once you make it stand on it. People won’t take you seriously if you say you’re going to do something only to change your mind after you made a choice. It means that you can be easily influenced. If someone is really wanting you and they see you mean what you say, they will be willing to meet you half way on the situation. If you can’t accomplish this then I think you have to consider moving along in your life. Don’t let talk alone be the thing that holds you to someone.

There is nothing that makes a situation more confusing than someone being able to talk the best game in order to buy time, only to underperform and you’re right back where you started. It is a tactic used by many and it has worked for hundreds, if not thousands of years. It is because as people we want to hear things that make us feel good and reinforce what we think, but sometimes what we’re being told just isn’t accurate to the real happenings of the situation. In those cases you must move forward for your own sanity and future. I don’t think that anyone just talking about the future and growing old together should absolve them of having to show that’s what they really want. If you happen to be with someone like this be careful. What could be happening is trifold. One could be they really mean it and are working on themselves to make sure they can meet that rhetoric, two, they’re buying time because they know they can’t meet that talk but they don’t want to lose you, or three they’re just blowing smoke and if you are supporting them, you need to end that support.

This discussion has the potential to branch off into so many different directions and there is no one set blue print on how to present this situation, but one thing that should be present is you being as direct as you can. There isn’t time for you to sit by and just wait for time to wain away in your life. There can only be so much time that you can allow yourself to not receive the fullness of what you want.

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Have It Your Way

Are you someone who feels that you have to have things go your way majority of time, or almost always? If you are that person, can I ask you why you feel that the world must revolve around you and what you want? And yes to some degree I understand that it’s a little self deprecating because, most of like things to go our way, or rather we don’t want to do things if it doesn’t have some tangible benefit for us. But I also think that more often than not, people are willing to cede that their way won’t be the predominant way when dealing with people and the battle of wills I suppose you call it.

Truth is, I guess it’s possible to have always have things go your way if your will is strong enough that you make someone bend to your desires. But I don’t think that it’s healthy, nor do I think it’s fair. I believe that there should be give and take in things, especially when dealing with love and relationships and real friends. You have to be willing to not have control of everything all the time. I think that is a bit selfish and self serving. It can lead to a lot of loneliness and isolation. The fact is that people usually don’t to feel like they have no control over things beyond just themselves. We all like to think that we have a say so in things that go on with our friends, family, and lovers to some extent. Whether you do or not, I think is very important for your standing within these relationships.

I have always struggled with dealing with individuals who think that the world should revolve around them at all times. Typically this is because I’m the guy who believes that no one person is that important that all things should exist when they say or how they feel they should. We all have the right to control ourselves and what we do without someone feeling like they’re being slighted. It’s an important part of self love to understand that you are always in control of what you want to do with yourself and life. Things will happen beyond your control, but the people you place in your life and the choices you make about how you interact with them will remain something that you can dictate.

If you’re in a relationship with someone who feels that you don’t enough for them or you don’t make everything about them, you need to ask yourself is this what you really want. If you love them because they make you feel a certain kind of way, but their insistence on being the center is part of the deal, consider if that love is really worth keeping. Why? Because in this situation you will always be second, not equal always less than. It has to be that way in order for them to always get their way. If you’re a person that is satisfied with that then you’re in the right kind of relationship for yourself, but if you know that you like being put first sometimes, consider if you are with someone who is a match for you. I think you have to really drill down on this too. If you’re relationship is one sided to where one person is controlling the activities you do and if or when you have sex, then y’all need to talk. Make sure there is balance to where control feels more even and no so one sidede.

You have to remember that when you give that person the controlling hand to dictate terms all the time, you are essentially setting the terms for your relationship. Even relationships have negotiations and posturing for what will and will not be accepted. The way to discuss them has to be direct but not too harsh. If you’re okay with telling your to have it your way, then keep it as it is, but if you’re starting to feel uncomfortable or feeling as if things are only going as one partner sees it then you have to really re-evaluate how things are going. There needs to be a harmony between you two. Have it your way is a recipe for failure, if there isn’t clear communication involved. If you’re the person who is having it all their way, if your pressed about why it needs to be that way, be open to discussing and not just shutting down.

One thing that seems to be obvious to me is that many times when someone who is use to getting things their way is pushed to make changes, it causes friction. Because they don’t know how to accept change or don’t want to accept change because it doesn’t benefit them. Those of you who fit this description, tell me why do you buck so hard when confronted with this reality?