forgiving,forgetting & learning to trust again...posible or not?

Saudi Arabia
May 6, 2007 3:09pm CST
to say that you forgive someone is easy.forgetting is the hard part.and learning to trust that person again is....impossible? i was in a relationship with this guy for a year.at first he was really sweet, thoughtul - the perfect guy. but somewhere along what i thought was a perfect relationship, he started to get secretive and distant.i poured all my attention & affection on him, fearing the worst, hoping we weren't growing apart and trying to make things work between us. a few days after our one year anniversary, he said we had to talk (seriously, the three most scariest words). so he sat me down and said what i had feared - he wanted to break up. he said he couldn't take the guilt anymore. three times in our relationship, he cheated on me. not a steady relaitonship with another girl - nothing that serious, he said. just oen night stands when he went out with his guy friends. one was with a girl from his dorm after a drinking session. one was with some girl he met at a bar. and one was from a girl from a neighboring college during a party.we broke up after that. that was two years ago. now, he's come back into my life and wants another chance. a few months after we brok up, he sent me an email asking me how i was and all that. i said i forgave him, because honestly, i did. i partly blame myself for what happened to out rlationship anyway.but now that he wants to come back into my life again, try to patch things up between us...all the hurt and pain came back.when we hang out, its okay.but when he starts to get sweet on me...i lose it.i get testy and more than once say that i have to go. from what i've seen, he has changed. but im still scared to trust him again.and truth be told, i haven't forgotten all the pain and hurt he caused.im scared he'll do it again.
2 responses
@mystery5 (350)
• India
7 May 07
The most important question here is - Do YOU love HIM? If the answer is yes, and if, like you said - he has really changed, then I think it is possible. Sometimes our past becomes more of a burden than a help, and this a something we need to work on. Take some time off, see whether you are taking him back into your life because you love him or because you just didn't know how to say no. If you really love him, just go ahead and trust him again. I know it is hard to trust someone like that again, but tell him - and really mean it - that if he ever does anything like that again - he can forget you for the rest of his life. I know a female who actually told her boyfriend that if he ever did something like that, she'd kill him and the girl - and he had a butchers knife in her hand when she said that! lol, I know I sounds really funny, but it worked. You've got to let it show that you mean it. Please learn to trust him again - there is no point in a half-hearted relationship and you might end up doing damage in the long run. Just tell yourself that it will NOT happen again, and go right ahead. Leave the rest to God.
• Philippines
7 May 07
I know how you must feel. I've been through that kind of situation before. I kept a 6-year long distant relationship with my man, and all those 6 years was spent with all faithfulness to him. I never entertained other suitors in those long years and I expected him to have been doing the same for me. But I was wrong. Just one day,I received a text message from him telling me that he is getting engaged to another girl who lives in the same town that he does. You must know how hurt I was. Anyway, I accepted the fact that we were not meant for each other and went on with life. I forgave him (I found it easy to do since I love him) and told him that I'd still be there for him as a friend. Then one day we met again and he told me that he still loved me. To make the story short, I just felt myself falling again for him even though he had hurt me much. And then we got married. But marriage doesn't mean I've forgotten what he did and the hurt he caused me. Time and again, when we quarrel, the past is sometimes brought up again. I have forgiven him, but have not forgotten. And the fear of him cheating on me again is always in my heart. I trust him, but not fully. I guess he understands that. And sometimes he tells me that I am being unfair because he has given me everything just to prove that he really loves me and is worthy of my trust but he can still feel my doubts on him. In your situation, if you are not yet ready to let him be part of your life again, then you shouldn't. Wait until you are ready and have gone past all the pain that you felt when he cheated on you. You can trust him as a friend now, and maybe, someday when you feel he has really changed and will not do it again,and you are ready to have him back, you can try again. Forcing yourself to accept him now, without trusting him, will just make the relationship bitter. I do not say that I am bitter with my relationship now, because it is the opposite. I was ready when I accepted him back. Good luck and I wish you happiness.