•Monday, August 20, 2012
Don't try to understand crazy, you'll just go crazy trying.
I must have heard this phrase hundreds of times in the past two years. Anyone who has ever been with someone who has simply lost touch with reality can understand how much damage you can do to yourself by 'trying to understand.' It can be hard to let go, a lesson I am still trying to learn.
I obsess. I have an anxiety disorder, but I don't have OCD. I obsess over things so I can think rationally and learn how to best go about things. I make lists on a daily basis, I keep excels of my daily budget and strive to save an extra $5 whenever possible. I am constantly taxing myself with how I can be more efficient and productive in my workday and even while I'm at home. I make schedules for when I have to work, exercise, play, sleep and do errands. I write things on my hand that I need to remember to do that day. Basically, I stress myself out trying to make sure I am a productive individual. If I don't accomplish everything I have on my list, I berate myself and work myself into a frenzy trying to learn why I didn't do everything and then adjust my week accordingly.
And as a result, I usually burn myself out trying to do everything and after a week or two of extreme-productiveness, I zone out and have a very difficult time staying committed.
But when it's all things that I am responsible for and have control over, it doesn't bother me so much as I consider it a 'learning experience.' When things are out of my control is when I start to seriously lose my mind.
My ex is a person who has either:
a) lost touch with reality
b) never understood reality in the first place
For our entire marriage, I was the breadwinner. 90% of the time I was working 2 jobs and he was unemployed. During the first 4 years of our marriage, we slowly stopped contributing equally and I took on all of the responsibilities. This included: bill paying, budgeting, housework, laundry, and supporting my ex emotionally. What did he do? Not much. He cooked a little, took care of the dog and picked up groceries when he wasn't looking for work. (translation: he did 5% of the work and thought he was doing 50-60% Don't ask me how he thought this made sense, read the quote at the top of the post if you need reminding)
He didn't start off like this when we were dating. But once the opportunity came up, he became perfectly complacent with doing less and less and letting me take care of everything, all while thinking he was a perfectly good husband and I had it so good.
When I left him, I was still the one working two jobs and he had nothing. So I continued to pay for things I had been paying for. My reasoning was that if we did end up getting back together, I wouldn't want him resenting me for thinking money was more important than our marriage. It's embarrassing how much I gave this boy without him barely saying thank you. God forbid he actually pay his share of these things. I payed for his rent, our car (which I didn't use and he kept), insurance, premiums, food and insurance for the dog, and the entire phone bill.
I did this for a year, even though we were still separated.
I never got a dime from him for any of these things.
Of course, I was watching how he was using the money I was giving him. He would take all this money and we'd still get hit with late fees from the car insurance. He needed extra money to take our dog to the vet. He would ask to borrow money and never returned it to me. He took our entire tax return and spent it, saying that it was his money to spend because he saved the money from his own paychecks.
After a year, I told him I would not be paying his rent anymore. He bombarded me with text messages and emails. He left voicemails on my phone day and night, telling me I had no right to do this and how I was kicking him and the dog onto the streets. Whenever I stopped paying for something I shouldn't pay for, I got the same treatment. He'd dig his heels in and tell me what I was doing wasn't fair - how I had no right to take these things away from him.
This happened for another year. I'd take things away - he would act out like a child. Then he would ask me to come home, how he could be a better husband.
I filed for a divorce last October. The first court date was in April and he changed it to June. The next court date was scheduled for August and he changed it to October. He has been fighting me tooth and nail for this, because he truly believes that we had a good marriage and he can be a good husband if I would just give him another chance.
He doesn't understand that I took care of him like he was my child. He doesn't see that he would act like an infant whenever I caught him lying. He truly believes that he did the best he could and couldn't possibly do any better. He says he wants his wife back - and I believe he means it. What he doesn't understand is that truly, subconsciously, he wants that time back when he was free of most of life's responsibilities and had someone there to cater to his needs.
This is why you don't try to understand crazy. I have been trying for over 2 years and I've gotten nowhere.
And, as a result of his irresponsible behavior and my need to be productive and understand where my money is going, I have completely lost it the past 6 months. I was doing alright until the first court date was supposed to happen. He asked to change it at the last minute and I agreed. He made the excuse that he couldn't take that day off because of his job. I wanted to do the right thing and try to make this as easy for him as possible (I still harbor some unnecessary guilt for leaving).
After that I started falling apart.
I spent my energy obsessing over what he was doing with the money I was still giving him, how he could spend $200 on cable every month but never somehow offer to give me $50 as a token of goodwill and a 'thank you.'
He kept sending me emails and texts about how much he missed me and how he wanted to have me come home. He played on every single goodwill I still had inside me and used up all of my resources to be a considerate person to someone who had taken so much from me. He made me feel guilty and played every manipulative card he had in his hand.
I should have been able to ignore him and not allow him to use me like he had for our entire marriage. Should. But I couldn't. My self-worth plummeted and I stopped going to therapy. I stopped talking to friends because I had already made the decision to divorce him and he wasn't saying anything new, so what did I have to discuss? He made me feel like I was a bad person, so I stopped exercising or caring about what I was doing to myself. I noticed I was gaining weight and losing perspective but I couldn't seem to bring myself back to that obsessive person who took care of herself and her life. I now had to obsess to understand what my ex was doing to me and how on earth he could treat me like dirt. I had given him everything in every possible way and what he was doing to me just didn't make sense.
I replaced my daily schedule with keeping track of the money he was taking out of the bank. I combed through pictures he was taking of the dog and tried to figure out if he was losing weight because my ex wasn't feeding him enough. I stopped making a workout regime and instead printed out emails and text messages that proved he was lying to me about this or that. Instead of just cutting him off, I kept trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, doing all these things to try to prove that I was wrong, that I'm the one who kept getting things mixed up and how he really was just having a run of bad luck. That's why he couldn't pay for things, that's why he wasn't acting like an adult.
I can't say that any of what I was doing made sense. I was trying to understand crazy.
I'm not sure how much progress I can make before he's out of my life completely. I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to get every trace of him out of my life. I could wish that when we're officially not married anymore, everything would fall into place. But that's not going to happen.
I'm angry at myself for obsessing over things that I allowed him to take control over. I'm angry at myself for losing my creativity, for letting myself go, and for losing precious minutes, hours, and days trying to 'figure him out.'
For what?
I learned nothing except that he is a boy, a man-child. And that child is trying to ruin my life because I ruined his by walking out.
I must have heard this phrase hundreds of times in the past two years. Anyone who has ever been with someone who has simply lost touch with reality can understand how much damage you can do to yourself by 'trying to understand.' It can be hard to let go, a lesson I am still trying to learn.
I obsess. I have an anxiety disorder, but I don't have OCD. I obsess over things so I can think rationally and learn how to best go about things. I make lists on a daily basis, I keep excels of my daily budget and strive to save an extra $5 whenever possible. I am constantly taxing myself with how I can be more efficient and productive in my workday and even while I'm at home. I make schedules for when I have to work, exercise, play, sleep and do errands. I write things on my hand that I need to remember to do that day. Basically, I stress myself out trying to make sure I am a productive individual. If I don't accomplish everything I have on my list, I berate myself and work myself into a frenzy trying to learn why I didn't do everything and then adjust my week accordingly.
And as a result, I usually burn myself out trying to do everything and after a week or two of extreme-productiveness, I zone out and have a very difficult time staying committed.
But when it's all things that I am responsible for and have control over, it doesn't bother me so much as I consider it a 'learning experience.' When things are out of my control is when I start to seriously lose my mind.
My ex is a person who has either:
a) lost touch with reality
b) never understood reality in the first place
For our entire marriage, I was the breadwinner. 90% of the time I was working 2 jobs and he was unemployed. During the first 4 years of our marriage, we slowly stopped contributing equally and I took on all of the responsibilities. This included: bill paying, budgeting, housework, laundry, and supporting my ex emotionally. What did he do? Not much. He cooked a little, took care of the dog and picked up groceries when he wasn't looking for work. (translation: he did 5% of the work and thought he was doing 50-60% Don't ask me how he thought this made sense, read the quote at the top of the post if you need reminding)
He didn't start off like this when we were dating. But once the opportunity came up, he became perfectly complacent with doing less and less and letting me take care of everything, all while thinking he was a perfectly good husband and I had it so good.
When I left him, I was still the one working two jobs and he had nothing. So I continued to pay for things I had been paying for. My reasoning was that if we did end up getting back together, I wouldn't want him resenting me for thinking money was more important than our marriage. It's embarrassing how much I gave this boy without him barely saying thank you. God forbid he actually pay his share of these things. I payed for his rent, our car (which I didn't use and he kept), insurance, premiums, food and insurance for the dog, and the entire phone bill.
I did this for a year, even though we were still separated.
I never got a dime from him for any of these things.
Of course, I was watching how he was using the money I was giving him. He would take all this money and we'd still get hit with late fees from the car insurance. He needed extra money to take our dog to the vet. He would ask to borrow money and never returned it to me. He took our entire tax return and spent it, saying that it was his money to spend because he saved the money from his own paychecks.
After a year, I told him I would not be paying his rent anymore. He bombarded me with text messages and emails. He left voicemails on my phone day and night, telling me I had no right to do this and how I was kicking him and the dog onto the streets. Whenever I stopped paying for something I shouldn't pay for, I got the same treatment. He'd dig his heels in and tell me what I was doing wasn't fair - how I had no right to take these things away from him.
This happened for another year. I'd take things away - he would act out like a child. Then he would ask me to come home, how he could be a better husband.
I filed for a divorce last October. The first court date was in April and he changed it to June. The next court date was scheduled for August and he changed it to October. He has been fighting me tooth and nail for this, because he truly believes that we had a good marriage and he can be a good husband if I would just give him another chance.
He doesn't understand that I took care of him like he was my child. He doesn't see that he would act like an infant whenever I caught him lying. He truly believes that he did the best he could and couldn't possibly do any better. He says he wants his wife back - and I believe he means it. What he doesn't understand is that truly, subconsciously, he wants that time back when he was free of most of life's responsibilities and had someone there to cater to his needs.
This is why you don't try to understand crazy. I have been trying for over 2 years and I've gotten nowhere.
And, as a result of his irresponsible behavior and my need to be productive and understand where my money is going, I have completely lost it the past 6 months. I was doing alright until the first court date was supposed to happen. He asked to change it at the last minute and I agreed. He made the excuse that he couldn't take that day off because of his job. I wanted to do the right thing and try to make this as easy for him as possible (I still harbor some unnecessary guilt for leaving).
After that I started falling apart.
I spent my energy obsessing over what he was doing with the money I was still giving him, how he could spend $200 on cable every month but never somehow offer to give me $50 as a token of goodwill and a 'thank you.'
He kept sending me emails and texts about how much he missed me and how he wanted to have me come home. He played on every single goodwill I still had inside me and used up all of my resources to be a considerate person to someone who had taken so much from me. He made me feel guilty and played every manipulative card he had in his hand.
I should have been able to ignore him and not allow him to use me like he had for our entire marriage. Should. But I couldn't. My self-worth plummeted and I stopped going to therapy. I stopped talking to friends because I had already made the decision to divorce him and he wasn't saying anything new, so what did I have to discuss? He made me feel like I was a bad person, so I stopped exercising or caring about what I was doing to myself. I noticed I was gaining weight and losing perspective but I couldn't seem to bring myself back to that obsessive person who took care of herself and her life. I now had to obsess to understand what my ex was doing to me and how on earth he could treat me like dirt. I had given him everything in every possible way and what he was doing to me just didn't make sense.
I replaced my daily schedule with keeping track of the money he was taking out of the bank. I combed through pictures he was taking of the dog and tried to figure out if he was losing weight because my ex wasn't feeding him enough. I stopped making a workout regime and instead printed out emails and text messages that proved he was lying to me about this or that. Instead of just cutting him off, I kept trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, doing all these things to try to prove that I was wrong, that I'm the one who kept getting things mixed up and how he really was just having a run of bad luck. That's why he couldn't pay for things, that's why he wasn't acting like an adult.
I can't say that any of what I was doing made sense. I was trying to understand crazy.
I'm not sure how much progress I can make before he's out of my life completely. I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to get every trace of him out of my life. I could wish that when we're officially not married anymore, everything would fall into place. But that's not going to happen.
I'm angry at myself for obsessing over things that I allowed him to take control over. I'm angry at myself for losing my creativity, for letting myself go, and for losing precious minutes, hours, and days trying to 'figure him out.'
For what?
I learned nothing except that he is a boy, a man-child. And that child is trying to ruin my life because I ruined his by walking out.
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