People-Pleasing Made Me Invisible
October 08, 2021 at 03:47PM âIâd really rather talk about this in person,â I kept repeating over text, but each time it was like my partner didnât hear me as she continued to type and hit âsend.â This was one of those dating conversations that was best had face-to-face. But, my needs didnât seem to matter and I let her bulldoze over them. Knowing your boundaries is one thing, but maintaining them is another. At the time, I wasnât good at either. My ex, on the other hand, had such clear boundaries that she seemed like an impenetrable fortress. She unapologetically asserted her needs and maintained emotional walls that my inner anxious child was unable to scale, but tried desperately to. While taking stock of that failed relationship, I tried to understand the radical contrast between us. How was she able to maintain…