Love is Not Supposed to Hurt

Questions and Answers:

I often feel sad in my relationship, what can I do about it?

I always feel like I'm walking on eggshells, is that normal?

I feel different from how I used to feel, like I've lost my sense of self. Why?

What can I do if my partner switches demeanors like Jekyll and Hyde?

How can I stop my boyfriend from humiliating me, degrading me, and putting me down?

Here are your answers:

I often feel sad in my relationship, what can I do about it?

If you feel sad in your relationship most, if not all of the time, then it is time that you really asked yourself if this relationship is bringing you joy MOST of the time. Get really honest with yourself, and tell yourself the truth. That's the first place to start. Can you communicate with your partner? Is he responsive? Does he make an effort to really listen to you and honor your feelings or not?

If he's not, then that would explain why you feel sad most of the time, because you have valid feelings, and they are not being honored. So first YOU have to honor your feelings, and then take a good, clear look at the way the relationship is RIGHT NOW, the way it is MOST of the time, not the few times you experience joy, but the majority of the time. If you are in pain "often" and most of the time, then you have to find the courage to either really work it out with your partner, and if you cannot, because your needs and feelings are not really honored, then it is time that YOU honored your feelings, and know one thing: that you do not have to remain miserable. You can get professional counseling together, and really open up. If he is not willing to do that with you, then he is not willing to make it work with you. So what are your two options? Stay miserable, or make a complete break so that you can heal, and then attract a new partner that will be extremely good to you. This is your choice, so please do what you know in your heart is true for you.

I always feel like I'm walking on eggshells, is that normal?

No, it is not normal, it is painful, and love is NOT supposed to hurt! Who told you that you have to put up with uncertainty, and living with a person that causes you to feel like a nervous wreck, always wondering if you are going to set him off? This is living with sickness. "Normal" people openly discuss whatever is bothering them, and come to mutually agreeable solutions.

In a normal relationship, one that is sane, you feel free to be yourself completely. You are never worried about "getting it wrong" or "messing up" because you know that you are loved and respected, cared about, adored, and that your feelings matter as much as his.

If you feel like you are walking on eggshells, then I wholeheartedly advise you to walk out of the relationship, and leave the broken shells of bad memories behind you, where they belong. No one can do this "for" you. This is your life, and only you can decide if this is the life you really want to live, and what you really prefer in a relationship, or if you would prefer something a lot more loving, where you feel safe, rather than constantly worried.

I do promise you that once you get really honest with yourself, and honor your real feelings, you are on the road to a much happier life, and you can do a lot of reading, inner healing, restoring, and coming into a place within where you become your own best friend. It is then that you will be ready to attract someone into your life who has the capacity to treat you the way any human being deserves to be treated. Where the only eggshells you see are when he brings you breakfast, because he loves you.

I feel different from how I used to feel, like I've lost my sense of self. Why?

Why? The answer is because you are being treated more like an object where if something goes wrong it is blamed on you, rather than being respected completely without blame and criticism.

If you feel like you have lost your sense of self, then you have probably been twisting yourself in every conceivable direction to be or feel good enough for the person that you are with. Are you told what to do? Are you watched? Yelled at? Insulted? Put down? Criticized?

When we have been put down, we do feel our real self somehow sliding away, especially in an emotionally and verbally abusive relationship. Sometimes we don't even notice it happening. We just begin to feel less confident, less desirable, less than we used to feel. This is what abuse does, it chips away at our sense of self, and before long, we've forgotten what it feels like to feel whole and complete and good enough again.

So if you're with someone that treats you in a degrading manner, someone that puts you down, someone that is kind and then mean, back and forth, then it's time to get off the see saw and plant yourself on solid ground with a firm decision as to what you are going to allow in your life, and how you are going to allow yourself to be treated.

You must decide how you really want to be treated, and only settle for that. You are NOT here to be degraded. No human being deserves to be degraded. So in order to gain your sense of self back, you have to know what you want, what you prefer, how you would rather feel, and put yourself in the position to walk away completely from anyone that treats you less than how you know you want to be treated.

When a person has clear boundaries, they do not allow them to be crossed. Your boundaries are your preferences. Create your boundaries, and you will be able to begin to feel a sense of what you really deserve. Then, only settle for that and nothing less, ever.

What can I do if my partner switches demeanors like Jekyll and Hyde?

Sister, (or Brother) run for your life, and never look back! Just keep going forward in one clear direction, far, far away from this person, because if you don't then YOU will feel like you are going insane.

You cannot fix or heal another person's psychological issues to your own detriment. Jekyll and Hyde is living with insanity, which will only make YOU feel insane. And I really mean what I say here.

How can I stop my boyfriend from humiliating me, degrading me, and putting me down?

You can't, dear one. He is the way he is. The question is when are you going to walk? How much more do you have to be humiliated, degraded and put down? Do you want to take it for a few more minutes, weeks, what about another ten years? Some people take it for the rest of their lives. Others leave at the first sign of abuse. Right after the first humiliating, degrading put down. They leave because they know this is the person's nature, and we cannot change another person. If someone is an abuser, they give abuse. Do you give abuse? No, you do not. Do you give it in self defense? If you are continuing to allow abuse in your life, this is a very sad life to live.

To better answer your question, the only way you can stop your boyfriend from humiliating you, degrading you, and putting you down is when you end your relationship with this person. Until that time, expect more of the same. Has it permanently changed? Does he change for a few days, maybe a week or so, only to go back to the same old pattern? If your answer is yes, then you can expect the same pattern to continue, as surely as you can expect that an apple tree will continue to give you apples. It will not give you bananas, or peaches. Its nature will not change.

For all of the above questions and answers, I must assure you that love is not supposed to hurt. Love feels wonderful. It feels safe, steady, certain, and predictable. "Excitement" comes from going away together, not from break-up, make-up sex. Love is the most beautiful and wonderful experiences on earth. Everybody deserves to experience real love. I hope that you will allow yourself to experience what it feels like to begin to love yourself. Then, and only then, will you be able to attract someone into your life who will love you the way you want to be loved. It is first an inside job, between you and yourself. Then you can experience this with another person, as this is the essence of what every human being on earth wants to feel, and with enough self love, every person one day will.

© Copyright by Barbara Rose

Barbara Rose is an internationally recognized expert in the field of personal transformation and spiritual/human potential. A pioneering force in incorporating Higher Self Communication the study and integration of humanity's God-Nature into modern personal growth and spiritual evolution. Bestselling author of Stop Being the String Along: A Relationship Guide to Being THE ONE, If God Was Like Man, and Individual Power: Reclaiming Your Core, Your Truth and Your Life. Her public speaking events, tele-seminars, webcasts, articles and private intensives have transformed the lives of thousands across the globe.

Barbara is known for providing life-changing answers, quick practical coaching and deep spiritual wisdom to people worldwide. She is the founder of IHSC ? Institute of Higher Self Communication, inspire! Magazine, Rose Humanitarian Alliance, and The Rose Group publishing company. Barbara works in cooperation with some of the greatest spiritual leaders of our time, to uplift the spiritual consciousness of humanity. Visit her website: http://www.borntoinspire.com

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Will They or Will They Not Cheat?

Have you ever told your partner or spouse how you... Read More

For Better Or Worse

For Better or WorseI was in the middle of a... Read More

Great Relationship Advice: The Ability to Resolve Conflict

Conflict in a relationship is both normal and painful. In... Read More

Sad Scientific Facts About Love

Disaster results when we see women trying to change a... Read More

Romantic Tips - Keeping Romance Alive

You've been in a relationship for quite some time and... Read More

Approval - You Dont Need It

Yesterday, after receiving a massage to help ease my computer-aided... Read More

Understanding Your Teen Relationship

Teen relationships are touchy things. Girls are often ready for... Read More

5 Surefire Ways to Arouse Your Woman

As there are different types of women, there are different... Read More

Improve Your Love Luck with Feng Shui!

Are you tired of looking for love without success? If... Read More

Rhubarb Romance: A Little Honey Works Wonders

Spring is in the air. It is a time of... Read More

Dumped? Get Set for a New Life

Welcome to Dumpsville. Population - you!You've been dumped for a... Read More

The Path of Relationship

Each month after completing and fine tuning Letters on Life... Read More

You Have to Read Heartbreak Rescue Just For You

"The truth that makes men free is for the most... Read More

Being Mindful of Your Mates Space

SOMETIMES I'LL ask a couple I'm seeing in therapy to... Read More

Find Love The Zen Way

"If he comes we welcome, If he goes we do... Read More

A Dream of the Perfect Partner

Your dream is so beautiful and it is never to... Read More

Breaking Your Relationship Pattern, Part 1

When you were little, you looked up to your parents.... Read More

Do You Love Reading The Daily Horoscopes Part II

How many time have you felt an instant attraction to... Read More

Let Kissing Liven Up Your Meetings (and More Kissing Tips)

Every now and then a quarrel breaks out down at... Read More

The Evolution of Dating at 40 and 50

I am sick of the dating scene at 40. The... Read More

Yellow and Orange Flags in Relationships

It's been said that love is blind. It may also... Read More

[Conflict Resolution] The Philosophy of Fear and Confrontation

Is there now, or has there been, a person or... Read More

Live Like You Were Dying: Help for Overcoming an Affair

In the recovery phase of my husbands last affair I... Read More

Love or Lust

Do you know what the definition of love is? This... Read More

After Retirement Separation - Life Just Gets Better!

Life after retirement separation can be a very lonely one... Read More

How To Make Hooking Up With Your Ex More Thrilling Than It Ever Was Before!

Now I really have seen everything.The other day, I saw... Read More

The Ancient Wisdom of Matchmaking & Loving Y.O.U.

"Know Thyself" PlatoIsn't it curious how just about everything in... Read More

Zodiac Love Match ? Can the Stars be Right?

As a somewhat older gentleman (but still fairly good looking... Read More

Legal Agreement to Cohabitate Between Unmarried Persons

THIS AGREEMENT is made and entered into this Third day... Read More

Energize Your Relationship By Celebrating Hoodie-Hoo Day February 20th

What is Hoodie-Hoo Day and what does it have to... Read More

Are You My Soul Mate?

I'm always dumbfounded when someone walks up to me and... Read More

10 Free Romantic Gifts

Being in love does not mean that you should turn... Read More

What Does It Really Mean When You Pass or Fail A Relationship Quiz?

Q. It seems that no matter what magazine I am... Read More