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So the woman you've dedicated the last 10 years to and gave up everything you've accomplished for tells you her life sucks. Do you take that personal?

ponderingatheist 7 Jan 26
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1

I think you can analyze it a bit. Her life sucking can exclude you being in her life. By that I mean find out WHY does her life suck. Is it because of things you can or cannot provide for her? Or is it completely unrelated to you and regarding traumas in her life, any mental health issues, pain-related issues, dissatisfaction with her job or lack of a job, abusive or toxic upbringing or current family members/friends, etc. There are so many possibilities here that you taking it personally would be assuming it is all about or because of you. Communicate with her and find out what is going on inside her head and what she is struggling with.

1

Without knowing the circumstances or the dispositions of the people involved it is hard to help or assess. It could go many ways. Is she the kind who will never be satisfied or happy with what she has? Do you over-estimate your contributions, or only contribute what you want and not what she needs? Is she unhappy because she doesn't have a life of her own or her own accomplishments? There are too many variables and unknowns. Take thee to a professional.

1

Ideally, life is a whole lot easier if you don't take anything from anyone personally. What comes from people's thoughts is just that - coming from them. Often it has nothing to do with you personally.
In your case - if your partner is unhappy , it's her responsibility to speak up, ask for help, and work on getting herself feeling good about life again. You can be supportive - but she has to do the work !

1

No. You cannot make someone happy. You've done a lot. Offer your support and guidance, but accept rejection. Sounds like she needs pro help.

2

You shouldn't take it as a personal insult, but if you are her equal partner, and she confided in you with this, it becomes your responsibility to attempt to help her feel that her life doesn't suck.

Is there some goal you can work on together, or you could help/encourage her to do so that she feels productive and worthwhile? Maybe you can remind her of all the positive ways the world is better with her in it, good deeds she does, making people happy, creating memories, perhaps working on a longer lasting legacy?

Sometimes people don't feel useful and need some enthusiastic encouragement to help themselves feel better and raise their self esteem by volunteering or doing one good deed per day or something. I don't know if this could be part of the problem, but with the little you shared, that's what came to my mind.

I brag about her to her every day. I brag about her to others every other day. I don't get out much

@ponderingatheist My ex-husband apparently bragged to everyone about me, but never said a kind word to me directly, seemed always jealous or competitive, never really on my side. Not saying that is like you, but your comment reminded me of that. Make sure she knows how you admire her - that's what was missing in my marriage. (Well one of the things.)

@ponderingatheist Oops! I see you did say you brag TO HER about her. Sorry - my eyes got ahead of my comprehension.

1

What purpose would it serve to take it personally?

There's only one relevant question, and that is whether she thinks her life sucks because of you or not, and whether that is in some way actionable by you, and how.

You could for example be mistaken about what a catch you were / are. You might not be, too. But it would have to be evaluated.

It is also entirely possible that her dissatisfaction with life has nothing to do with you, and that even you walking on water isn't going to scratch whatever her itch is. Or, it may be superficially to do with you ... but the real problem is that you just aren't and possibly never will all that well-suited to each other.

Sometimes I think we entertain the fantasy that an intimate relationship will somehow solve all our personal problems and metaphysical angst. Or that it even can or should.

What does your wife have to say about what the problem is? She might be quite clear about it. She also might be displacing the real problem onto you or the relationship or something else. Just sort it out, with professional help if necessary. Don't take it personally; it won't help the process.

Simply because you've put in time and effort doesn't mean it will produce the expected or desired outcome.

Dam, you make sense, and I hate what you have to say lol. Well, I already wasted 10 years too, but I'll keep it moving.

@JurassicT4 "Wasted" is a trap that's easy for me to fall into, so I empathize.

My first marriage was a "waste" of 15 years but it taught me things (however unpleasant or unwanted) and gave me my two children. My second marriage was in a sense a "waste" of another 13 years in the sense that she died and was sick much of the time so we could never realize all of our dreams together. Yet ... would I want to have never experienced her at all because of things that happened that neither of us wanted or planned? No. It was horrible, but ... there are also very, very good memories. In fact honestly, the fondest memories of my life to date. A waste? That's a selective and purposely negative way to view it. It's paying way too much attention to pain and way too little to pleasure.

My son died a couple of years ago at age 30. Was that a "waste"? Do I cry because he died or smile because he lived? I know which I would rather do. Of course I grieved the loss ... as I've grieved other losses ... but to put a black-or-white judgment like "waste" on any of these losses, strikes me as not a good way to cope.

@mordant thank you for sharing your viewpoint. Yes, I would rather not have experienced it. Could've been able to focus on important that slipped away. Yes, it's a waste for me. No, I do not find anything negative about. I have a better mindset moving forward, and will not allow myself to be compromised again. If memories can be selectively erased, I'll sign up. Try listening to my poem Last Attempt.

@JurassicT4 FWIW I did find my brain surreptitiously erasing a lot of detailed memories of my hideous first marriage. I recall it in general terms and certainly remember the emotional content but was surprised when my current wife pressed me for specifics (like specifically an example what we tended to argue about or what was said) I literally could not recall them -- try as I might. Of course it has been 25 years. But still.

I didn't set out to do that, it just seems to have happened all by itself ...

1

Humm it seems that you have already taken it personally. So maybe the question becomes what you do about it. There is a lot of good information in the responses. You are responsible for your feelings and behaviors. You have to make a choice about what you want and need.
You have not given enough information to understand the potential complications but there are professionals who can help you work through your issues.

1

That sounds like a conversation to be had with her...

5

Two possibilities spring to mind here. One; if she has come to rely on you for all you've done for and given her, she may be feeling like a failure that she didn't achieve all those things for herself. Two; she may be suffering depression - which stems from a chemical imbalance in the brain as much as from a situation, and can make a person feel that "life sucks" even if they seem to have everything going for them.

Jnei Level 8 Jan 26, 2019

I'm pretty sure she is battling some depression. I think I may be too. It really doesn't help the situation.

@ponderingatheist Realising that is the biggest step to dealing with it. It can be a long hard road; good luck.

@Jnei thank you.

1

Only if you feel responsible for her life.

I would like to think my role was significant.

3

My ex told me the same thing after 33 years of me doing nothing for myself because he needed new hunting clothing, new boat, new rifle/shotgun, new LL Bean boots to enjoy his time-sucking hobbies....
It is called Narcissism, you get drained & feel Deeply hollow inside even though everybody keeps saying how lucky you are to have them.
My life is unbelievably better without him, yours will be too!

4

You can, if you want to. I can see how it would be difficult not to.
However...
It's more likely that it's about her lack of fulfillment in her own life.
Might not have anything to do with you.
She could be lamenting her own disappointment in herself.
Sometimes, we express our most unpleasant feelings about our lives to
the person(s) we feel safest with. She might just be feeling frustrated over
the current situation.
You didn't provide much detail. So anything anyone says is nothing more
than a guess.

This might also be your cue to haul ass and rebuild your life, away from her.

The same thoughts came to me and you expressed very eloquently so I yield to your comment.

@jlynn37 You are too kind, good sir.

I don't think it's in me to haul ass. That's not my style.

this might be my pick for top answer

@ponderingatheist And that's perfectly fine. Only you know what is going to be best for you moving forward.
Like I said, nothing any of us can say is any more than just a guess.
You know the details. We do not.

@KKGator it's a long story. I thank you for your input. I really don't know what I was aiming for with this post. I'm happy with the results though.

3

How you take it is up to you.....you always have the choice to take it personally or not.

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