Monday, February 3, 2014

Judged.

My husband has noticed my slump over the past week.
So today, he pushed himself under the bus in order to keep the house clean and take me to my favorite restaurant, and just have a "relaxing" day.

Today has been anything but relaxing.
Sheesh, I can finally see what my co-dependent self looked like from the other side.
When my husband was in a slump, I would go out of my way to plan his life, cook gourmet meals, keep the house spotless, and make his life as easy as possible. And then I would demand to know what work he was doing for his recovery. I just wanted to see that he was WORKING.

That's kind of what happened today. My hubby kept the house clean, let me take a loong shower, took me out to lunch, kept the babe entertained, ect. I was finally feeling motivated again, and ready to jump into life a new woman. However, tonight as I sat down to go over my schedule, my husband comes in and tells me that my behavior over the past week has driven him crazy, and that he just wanted to see that I was WORKING on getting out of my slump. 
Talk about a joykill.

I finally saw why I couldn't do my husband's work for him; it was a lesson learned. It was an annoying lesson to learn. I am so frustrated. I think I mentioned before that the major numbing part of my slump was watching a t.v. marathon, you know the netflix marathons that are so common in our culture. I'm not proud of it, and I have set up some pretty firm new bottom lines around them now.

It was just hard to have my husband come in and talk to me like he would his teenage girl. He talked about how hard it was for him to get rid of his laptop, and how much his life had been blessed because of it. He said that he wasn't trying to tell me to get rid of my laptop. Guys, he was treating me like I was one of the guys in his porn group, and I wanted to punch him in the face. Granted, I did get carried away with the T.V. dramas this week in order to numb from life. But I am a mother taking online classes, and having a laptop at home makes it possible for me to get homework done while my child is sleeping and my husband is at school. I am not exaggerating when I say that 90% of the work I do on my laptop is productive work. I am so frustrated at him for comparing all of my reasons for keeping it with the excuses he would give for holding on to his laptop. I am sorry, but I do not have a destructive addiction that I am trying to fend off. In fact, one of the most healing parts of my recovery has been this blog... something that would be nearly impossible to put time into if I didn't have my computer here at home. 
well, now I'm ranting.

It's just been a frustrating day, and I can't tell you how terrible it is to feel judged by the person that has hurt you so much, when he suddenly decides that it's time to beat the addiction, and you're having a hard time coping with it. Obviously coming from an emotional place as I write this... maybe it would be good to get some sleep and start up anew tomorrow.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Whew.

So... after I wrote my last post, I felt like I should encourage my hubby to call the elder's quorum president, just make sure it was okay. He did, and the elders quorum president called the bishop, and the bishop said no. I felt such a huge wave of relief. I didn't know why! I have been so anxious for the world to know about our journey, but when the time came, I just didn't feel good about it- so incredibly anxious. I don't know if I will ever be ready for the WHOLE world to know. I definitely want to help the recovery movement as much as I can, but I just don't think that I am ready to disclose... and I don't think I will ever be ready. It feels so relieving to say that. If it does end up happening, I will cope and hopefully spin it to my own good, but for now, I am completely content with only a handful of the people around me knowing.

After talking to my husband, i'm pretty sure I understand why it is such a hard thing for people to disclose. Pornography addiction today is tied in public opinion to child pornography. For people who don't understand the problem, they can be (rightfully) worried and doubtful, and want to keep their children away from the porn addict. My husband has never struggled with child pornography, but I can see how others could draw the wrong conclusion... I don't ever want my child to have to suffer because of his father's addiction. He will have struggles of his own, and I don't want this weighty subject to be one of them.

So for now, silence it is, and silence I am comfortable with. It is good to have our amazing family members and one close friend know about it. I think for now, that's all I need or want.

Prayers Wanted

My husband is teaching the lesson in Elders Quorum, and had another lesson prepared, but felt like he should share his story and the resources that helped him... I am nervous for the looks I might get for the next few weeks, but I feel like this is a good thing that needs to happen. Pray for me.