Help, I(F26) don't know how to be myself with him (M26)

So I have a pretty unusual background. Until the age of 22, I was a Jehovah's Witness. It's incredibly hard to explain the impact being raised in a high-control religion like that can have on you, but to put it very lightly, I got very good at hiding parts of myself that I felt others disapproved of or didn't understand as a result.

Now, I'm four years out of the religion, and have started dating for the first time. This is an incredibly huge step for me, since I've always felt fairly constricted in any kind of close personal relationship.

The guy I'm seeing is really great, and not judgmental at all, but I still find myself cutting away parts of myself for the relationship and feel like I can't fully be myself. I really think this is more of an issue on my end than his, but I still don't know how to work to change it. If you've ever been in a similar situation and had trouble feeling like you could be yourself in the context of a certain relationship, what did you do? Were you able to work it out, or did you find someone else the fit was better with naturally?

​

TL;DR! - I don't know how to be myself in a relationship after growing up in a judgmental religion. Looking for advice on how to be true to myself in context of relationship.



Submitted April 26, 2019 at 06:27AM

So I have a pretty unusual background. Until the age of 22, I was a Jehovah's Witness. It's incredibly hard to explain the impact being raised in a high-control religion like that can have on you, but to put it very lightly, I got very good at hiding parts of myself that I felt others disapproved of or didn't understand as a result.Now, I'm four years out of the religion, and have started dating for the first time. This is an incredibly huge step for me, since I've always felt fairly constricted in any kind of close personal relationship.The guy I'm seeing is really great, and not judgmental at all, but I still find myself cutting away parts of myself for the relationship and feel like I can't fully be myself. I really think this is more of an issue on my end than his, but I still don't know how to work to change it. If you've ever been in a similar situation and had trouble feeling like you could be yourself in the context of a certain relationship, what did you do? Were you able to work it out, or did you find someone else the fit was better with naturally?​TL;DR! - I don't know how to be myself in a relationship after growing up in a judgmental religion. Looking for advice on how to be true to myself in context of relationship.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Add Comments, Posts, Links... etc.

Popular posts from this blog

The difference between being right and being understood

My boyfriend and I are 28. We’ve been together for about 1.5 years and recently moved in together. He’s a pretty patient and easygoing person (Type B) whereas I’m more particular (Type A). Of course there are two sides to every trait, and my Type A nature benefits us in some ways too. Like all couples, we have differences in perspective or preference. When this happens, he will usually say something like “I disagree (with your perspective) but fine.” I tend to push the issue in an attempt to get him to understand where I’m coming from. This escalates the disagreement into a fight because he perceives it as me trying to be “right”. I truly just want to be understood (and I want to understand where he’s coming from) so I’m looking for more of a dialogue whereas he avoids conflict and just wants it to be over as quickly as possible. His general approach is “agree to disagree” but that doesn’t make sense to me when it’s an issue that will keep coming up and requires compromise. I’m n
Read more

My (27f) gf (27f) is getting tired of me not sharing intimate/ personal info about me

I’ve always been extremely private and introverted. We have more than a year together and we’ve been living together for like 6 months, we get along pretty good and I’m really in love with her, however I can not seem to open up... and I can tell it’s frustrating to her by the way she tells me it bothers her that she feels she’s the only one committed and the one that’s always sharing... At this point I don’t even know if it is that I’ve gotten too used to it, to the point I’ve became lazy to talk about myself or give any genuine personal opinion... it sucks, really, I need to communicate better... Where do I start? Tl;dr: I can’t be completely intimate with my gf and its frustrating her, I need to communicate better because I really love her... where to start? Submitted April 25, 2019 at 06:02AM I’ve always been extremely private and introverted. We have more than a year together and we’ve been living together for like 6 months, we get along pretty good and I’m really in love
Read more

My (23M) girlfriend (25F) relationship is confusing to me. I might be the problem, or maybe we are just incompatible.

I met my girlfriend after a few serious breakups that led me to change both intentionally and unintentionally over a few years. For better and for worse. She had just gotten out of an engagement with a verbally and physically abusive man who had a cocaine problem. We have been together about 8 months now. We hit it off and spent a lot of time together but she began to push our relationship as if there were a time clock for milestones. I was pressed beyond my comfort zone and went with it because of my affection for her. My living situation fell apart and I lost a few thousand dollars to shit roommates right around the time she and I met and she offered to let me stay with her. I agreed with some resistance. I pay for food, help her with bills, and throw money toward rent while trying to get back on my feet. As long as we have been together she has gotten more possessive, angry, and irrational. She is dealing with shit from her engagement and I feel shes looking for a level of seriou
Read more