Lonely

This week my ex told me that he hopes that I don't feel lonely.  And it got me thinking, is lonely really the worse thing to be?

I have been lonely before.  I am probably lonely sometimes now.  But, to me, I don't think that lonely is the worst thing I could be.  I would rather be lonely than be unappreciated.  I would rather wish I had someone to spend time with than have someone who doesn't want to spend time with me.  I would rather fill my time doing things I want to do than fill my time doing something to try to please someone else.  I would rather be alone and deal with someone else's drama.

Something great about loneliness and being alone is that it makes me really think about what I want and need in myself and someone else.  I do not want to feel lonely while I am with someone ever again.  It was the worst feeling in the world to be with the one that you love so deeply and still feel lonely.  I will never put myself in that situation again.  I don't want the person that I am with to ever feel that way again either.  I know that I did that to my ex.  Being lonely and alone is a thousand times better than being lonely and with someone.

There is also a big difference between missing a particular person in your life and being lonely.  I think that for me, it is that I miss my husband.  I miss the person that I spent 11 years of my life with.  I am lonely sometimes, but lonely for him.  For the life that I had.  Finding someone to make me temporarily not feel lonely will not fill this void for me.  It is something that I need to work on myself.  Something I need to work through to truly move on from and get over.  Then, when I am ready, I will find someone that will fill my loneliness truly.  But until then, being lonely is not the worst thing that I could be.

In My Next Relationship...

In my next relationship I will do things differently.  I will also do things the same.

It is crazy to think about how much you can want something to work out when it shouldn't.  My ex and I once loved each other deeply and without regret.  It was him over everything for me, and me over everything for him.  Somewhere along the line, that changed.  Having reflected on it all for a few months now, I can see that it wasn't anyone's fault.  The way our marriage came to a crashing stop was the result of his actions, but it had been broken long before that.

We met and began dating in a teenage whirlwind at 18 and 19.  We thought we knew it all and nothing would ever get between us.  But things did.  On more than one occasion.  The real world is hard.  Marriage is hard.  Parenthood is harder.  Good intentions and love are not all it takes to make a relationship a success.  And when too much has happened to truly forgive, there is no going back.

Moving forward will not be easy.  My ex is seeing someone new.  Someone who I think will be very well suited to him.  I have met her in the past.  She is beautiful and kind and they share a lot of the same interests.  They will be able to support one another in a way that I never could.  I want this for myself.  I want to find someone who will share interests with me.  Someone who will support my passions and hobbies and want to spend time with me.  Things that I had to force with my ex, I won't have to do with someone else.  But, getting there will not be simple.  Opening up again will not be as simple as I may want it to be.  Even though I am pretty quick to open up to someone, it might be in my best interest to be different this time around.  To guard myself a little more.

Honestly, I am really looking forward to finding the things that truly make me happy in a relationship.  The easy parts.  I had been in a relationship that was too hard for way too long.  I forget what it feels like to have the simple happiness that comes with being with someone new.  I had that with my ex once upon a time, but now I feel like I know some ways to keep that feeling alive...stay tuned :)