Her Voice
I was in a relationship for four years with my boyfriend who I met in college before things took a turn for the worst and we broke up. Back then, I found myself so in love with him that I was losing a sense of reality and quite frankly…myself.
I was 20 years old when we first started dating and I had no sense of who I really was. I thought I knew who I was but looking back, chile, I was a hot mess. The insecurities I had acquired from a previous situationship had caused me to walk into our relationship with some serious baggage. It's probably also important to mention that I took no time after my previous situationship to heal and reflect before making myself available again.
As a young twenty-something not knowing who I was or what I was becoming, I was more focused on loving and investing in our relationship than I was learning to love myself. I was willing to sacrifice all of me to make sure our relationship succeeded.
And that love I had for him, my desire to succeed in our relationship above all else, became overbearing to him. I wanted and needed ALL of his attention, all of his time and if I didn't, well that just meant to me that he didn't care or love me.
I needed him to pour his heart out to me every day so that I could feel appreciated and reassured that we were happy and on good terms.
My overbearing love for him eventually started to suffocate him and his dreams. I was slowly weighing down a strong black man. I was pulling him away from time he needed to set aside for himself. I was selfishly forcing him to pour into me…an empty cup.
Eventually, he broke up with me. He had enough of my shit.
As one could imagine, I was heartbroken. Distraught. I couldn't even go shopping at the mall without breaking down in tears. I couldn't focus on school work. I was just out of it. I had poured all of my love and energy into the relationship that when I stared at myself in the mirror, my reflection was unfamiliar.
It took a reality check of losing what I loved most, to realize that you can truly love someone too much. It forced me to reshift my focus and change how I viewed love and relationships.
I was able to reconfigure my love and thankfully was able to salvage my relationship. We have now entered into married life and have learned to appreciate one of the darkest and challenging periods of our relationship. Now married, I know the importance of taking time to maintain a sense of self, whether that's finding a hobby, taking some alone time, or learning how to check myself before I wreck myself and others around me. And thankfully, his endurance for love created a better woman in me.
I've learned that it is not until you discover yourself that you'll discover true love in its purest form.
Breaking up was the best thing that happened not only to my relationship, but to myself as well. His endurance for love created a better woman in me. I've learned that it is not until you discover yourself that you'll discover true love in its purest form.
xoNecole is always looking for new voices and empowering stories to add to our platform. If you have an interesting story or personal essay that you'd love to share, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us at submissions@xonecole.com.
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