JurassicPT
New member
Eight months ago, my relationship with my girlfriend ended abruptly after an extremely intense relationship full of chemistry and passion. Whilst we were together, she told me she’d never had feelings for someone like she had for me, she allowed herself to be more vulnerable with me than she ever has with others, even saying she could see herself spending the rest of her life with me.
The reason she gave was because she felt that the more we talked and the closer we got, the stronger her feelings for me became. But because of the age gap between us (she’s mid 20s, I’m late 30s) she wasn't sure if she could make it work. However, somebody recently has told me that it's quite likely that the age gap was an excuse.
Because quite near the end of the relationship, I hurt her very badly by breaking things off because I was jealous of someone she’s friends with.. A few weeks before this, she had told me she was falling for me. I apologized and we reconciled, but she told me that I'd broken her heart and that she was destroyed. We were fine for a couple of weeks, I began therapy to work on some of my issues, and we agreed to take things slowly, but one day she blocked me on everything without warning. She unblocked me a few weeks later and we started talking again, but since then we've had a period of very hot and cold behavior on her behalf. Where at times, she's friendly and reaches out to maintain a connection. But a lot of the time, she's withdrawn and very, very awkward around me.
4 months ago, we had a long conversation, and we both put our cards on the table. She told me she thought I was an amazing person and she wanted to be close friends because she felt we had a real connection with each other, and both of us felt that the pressure had been taken off. About a month into our new friendship, she started withdrawing again, and stopped viewing my Instagram stories, becoming withdrawn and awkward at times where we'd see each other.
Two months ago, I told her I find her treatment of me being different to our mutual friends and her withdrawing and avoidance confusing and I wasn’t sure if we could be friends. She never replied to the message and we just gave each other space. A month ago we talked, and I was upfront and honest that I have feelings for her but I accept she might not feel the same, but when the time is right I’d like to be friends. She replied immediately and told me she also wanted to be friends.
The other week she complained to a friend when she thought I’d walked past her and ignored her saying hello to me. A week later she had been extremely awkward around me when we were in the gym at the same time, but then asked a question she already knew the answer to so she could initiate a brief conversation. Recently she’s unblocked one of my social media accounts all of a sudden. The last couple of weeks though, she has been very avoidant again, she has made sure to avoid seeing me completely because it would have been her and I alone together.
Despite her consistently citing a desire to be friends, something she's vocalized on multiple occasions, she finds it very difficult to be around me and is very guarded and awkward a lot of the time, whilst being more comfortable and at ease with a lot of our mutual friends. We’ve had a few conversations about being friends, but it doesn’t appear to be something she can manage right now.
I have a lot of empathy for her as she’s clearly struggling with her feelings in some way, and I’m very comfortable giving her the time and space she needs to work through it. She has a lot of tendencies seen in fearful avoidant attachment, and I feel my breaking things off so abruptly has done a lot of damage, and it feels like she’s still hurting in some ways and scared to get close again in case she gets hurt.
Just wanted some independent opinions if I’m probably on the right track with my theory on the likeliest cause of her inconsistent behaviour?
The reason she gave was because she felt that the more we talked and the closer we got, the stronger her feelings for me became. But because of the age gap between us (she’s mid 20s, I’m late 30s) she wasn't sure if she could make it work. However, somebody recently has told me that it's quite likely that the age gap was an excuse.
Because quite near the end of the relationship, I hurt her very badly by breaking things off because I was jealous of someone she’s friends with.. A few weeks before this, she had told me she was falling for me. I apologized and we reconciled, but she told me that I'd broken her heart and that she was destroyed. We were fine for a couple of weeks, I began therapy to work on some of my issues, and we agreed to take things slowly, but one day she blocked me on everything without warning. She unblocked me a few weeks later and we started talking again, but since then we've had a period of very hot and cold behavior on her behalf. Where at times, she's friendly and reaches out to maintain a connection. But a lot of the time, she's withdrawn and very, very awkward around me.
4 months ago, we had a long conversation, and we both put our cards on the table. She told me she thought I was an amazing person and she wanted to be close friends because she felt we had a real connection with each other, and both of us felt that the pressure had been taken off. About a month into our new friendship, she started withdrawing again, and stopped viewing my Instagram stories, becoming withdrawn and awkward at times where we'd see each other.
Two months ago, I told her I find her treatment of me being different to our mutual friends and her withdrawing and avoidance confusing and I wasn’t sure if we could be friends. She never replied to the message and we just gave each other space. A month ago we talked, and I was upfront and honest that I have feelings for her but I accept she might not feel the same, but when the time is right I’d like to be friends. She replied immediately and told me she also wanted to be friends.
The other week she complained to a friend when she thought I’d walked past her and ignored her saying hello to me. A week later she had been extremely awkward around me when we were in the gym at the same time, but then asked a question she already knew the answer to so she could initiate a brief conversation. Recently she’s unblocked one of my social media accounts all of a sudden. The last couple of weeks though, she has been very avoidant again, she has made sure to avoid seeing me completely because it would have been her and I alone together.
Despite her consistently citing a desire to be friends, something she's vocalized on multiple occasions, she finds it very difficult to be around me and is very guarded and awkward a lot of the time, whilst being more comfortable and at ease with a lot of our mutual friends. We’ve had a few conversations about being friends, but it doesn’t appear to be something she can manage right now.
I have a lot of empathy for her as she’s clearly struggling with her feelings in some way, and I’m very comfortable giving her the time and space she needs to work through it. She has a lot of tendencies seen in fearful avoidant attachment, and I feel my breaking things off so abruptly has done a lot of damage, and it feels like she’s still hurting in some ways and scared to get close again in case she gets hurt.
Just wanted some independent opinions if I’m probably on the right track with my theory on the likeliest cause of her inconsistent behaviour?