Relationships
Dear Community,

Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.

If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.

Thank you.

Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.

Help. Did I do the right thing?

I am not sure I've done the right thing. My financee (ex) & I have been married 3 times each prior to meeting. I had always said I would not get remarried as 3 times & failure.

He knew this going in and said he knew the risks and was willing to take the chance I would change my mind. So few years in we discussed marriage and I started crying, he's response was "Wow, I've never had a woman cry sad tears when I asked them to marry me. He knew at that time I wasn't ready.

Then approx 2 years again he asked me to marry him and proposed in front of all my friends (I couldn't say no) My first words out of my mouth was "No, you didn't & the second was "I'm going to kill you. What does that say about me? I wasn't thrilled over this.

We both are of Christian faith and have not lived together. He needs to be married to make it right with God. I don't have the same commintment to marriage after 3 failed I just lost faith in marrage, I am quite happy & content being in a committed relationship but not being legally married.

We have fun together, like most couples we've had our disagreements. I don't like he uses tobacco and he doesn't like that I have a 

Oh and we we're living in the same town but now we're about 1hr 45 mins apart in different cities.

So I finally admitted after much soul searching that I was not going to get married to him or anyonre. My heart breaks because I do love him, but he has to be married where I don;t feel like we have to as long as we've made that commitment and already feel that way in our hearts just not legally.

I just don;t know if I have done the right thing by calling off the engagement and gave him his ring back.  After asking him if he can continue without being married or if he has too.

Advice?

Re: Help. Did I do the right thing?

  • You aren't willing to remarry and that is your deal breaker. He has to respect that. I think if you were truly willing to remarry you would have said yes and gone through with it. So maybe the fear of failure again is what is holding you back? The question isn't really what we think its can you live your life without him? Knowing that he may walk away because you won't remarry? If you are willing to do this then I think you made the right decision for you. 
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Move on, he deserves better.  He should not have to pay for your ex husbands or your failures.  He deserves someone to love him enough to fully commit.  

      

  • In a general sense, the two of you want different things out of a relationship- you aren't compatible with one another and shouldn't be together.  He can find someone who wants to get married, and you can find someone who is content to be in a relationship without getting married.

    Based on the specific details you've provided here, I'd say you dodged a bullet by ending a relationship with a man who doesn't respect you and has no concern for your wants and needs.  He knew going into the relationship that you did not want to get married, but figured that he knows you better than you know yourself and that you would change your mind.  After you turned him down, instead of respecting that, he tried again, and deliberately chose a situation in which you were put on the spot and felt pressured to accept his proposal because your friends were all watching.

    He clearly understood that you were not happy when he proposed and you said yes so he wouldn't be embarrassed in front of all of those people.  He doesn't give a damn whether you are happy or not, as long as he gets what he wants.

    I don't understand the bit about making it right with God.  It sounds like he's trying to guilt you into marrying him.  This guy is a selfish jerk.  This is exactly why he's been married three times already.  I know this is rough, but try to focus on yourself, move forward, and be glad that you avoided becoming his fourth ex-wife.

     

  • Yes, I think you did the right thing. He should be with someone that wants to get married and you should be with someone who knows they don't ever want to get married. 

    I also want to add that I don't think it's a good idea to date Christians deep in their faith. When you love someone, you want to have sex and live together and you don't suppose to do that unless you're married, so to avoid this happening again, that may be something to think about.

    Daisypath Anniversary tickers
    TTC since September 2012
  • You do not wish to be married. You and he wanted 2 different things.

    Yes, you did the right thing.

    Why should you be stonewalled and railroaded into doing something you do not wish to do?

    Marriage has to be something the both of you wish to do.
  • Thank you for your comment. Allow me to expand, he's quite content having sex outside of marriage & his last relationship he lived with the person for over 4 yrs ( after his 1st 3 marriages) they broke up & he moved out. He would also stay at my house during the week or wknd and vice Versa all he says now is he wants to get it right at least once in his life. 

    Which I can appreciate, so I felt quite often he was being a hypocrite. I will take to heart your comment.

    Thank you. 

  • Yes I have been to a therapist about the word marriage not having the same meaning as it did before. No resolved, it's not an emotional thing it's just my belief changed on what marriage means. 

    I am torn about what to do. My heart and head are conflicting so plan on seeing another therapist to see if they can assist me in getting them both on the same page.

     

    thanks for your suggestions.

     

  • Believe me I am not holding my past or his past failures against him. His marriages were short where my were long.  As for commitment, I did commit to him but we seem to be a different places with regards to careers, finances, honesty, etc. 

    you are correct I have told him he deserves someone who can give up career and doesn't care where they live, and could give him what I've been unable at this time, yet he is now acting like we're still engaged and says he doesn't want to move on?

    So again I'm confused.

     

     

  • Well, it doesn't really matter if he doesn't want to move on- you broke up with him, so it's not optional.  Please tell him to respect your decision and not to contact you again.
  • I think the most important thing is how do you feel? Are you happy with your decision? If you are, then you both need to understand that you want different things in life. You don?t need to get married to be happy again, but he needs it and maybe expecting for him to suddenly change his mind about it is just as unfair as him expecting for you to change yours. Is there any way to compromise? To find some sort of middle ground you both are comfortable with?
    Celebrate life and love with a romantic anniversary room package at any Hotel, B&B, or Vacation Rental in the U.S.
Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards