Day 2 of washout
I’m in a messy spot. I want to/I don’t want to…feel this/face this.
I got triggered by a guy I worked near today, one who I’ve worked with before. He said one thing…and I felt myself pained inside. Instantly, I wondered…“why won’t he love me?”
That’s the expectation I put on him. The reason he’s painful to be around. But this isn’t about him.
I reverted to a child’s thinking, having wanted to earn some love or acceptance. He’s refused to give it. —and right there is usually when I put all the focus on him. I just couldn’t go there today.
I allowed him permission to see parts of my heart when I worked with him months back. And…I still resort to feeling like a kid around him. Today, without any dialogue or communication at all, I opened up my heart some since I worked near him all of 10 minutes. He gave one verbal swipe, and I reacted just like I did when I was young. I wondered "why won’t you love me?’
That’s where I’m vulnerable. I felt like I’d done something to have him not “love” me, but I wasn’t looking through adult eyes. I felt like a young kid expecting and depending on him to love me.
I’ve avoided putting blame or responsibility on the people in my past, and months back I actually broke down one day since this coworker was stirring the same wound. This pain is what I’ve been afraid to own, and I commonly blame myself…(how do I heal this?) That was why I broke down. I rarely face myself with love at all when I’m blaming myself. I felt like shit and just balled.
Today, I realized that that single unmet expectation is why I’ve held resentments toward men. Like I see them failing me even before I open my mouth. And I’ve put that expectation on other men since… .since I didn’t allow myself my own love. I thought I didn’t know how. What I know now is I wouldn’t allow it.
Connection here: If I loved myself, I might lose that “role” of being a little brother in need of his brother. AKA I might lose my brother’s love. Did I just see that?
Fuck it. I feel scared because I’m vulnerable. But this is where I’ve been circling back to in my life