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Tonight I sat at my apartment all by myself. I spoke to some friends, but balanced my immediate needs with the long-term goals of my friendships. I am not helpless or hopeless. To convey that message to my friends in order to feel validated does not teach me how to validate myself. I am practicing validating my own feelings. It's difficult when my feelings were validated for so long by my WW. Not anymore. All these feelings.....

I am doing it the right way, too. I am not jumping into another relationship or doing anything that I will regret, which makes it that much more difficult.

It is hard to get to that place man. Don't lose that place.

Good job!

It's hard to break that pattern. Over the years I've learned not to trust my own thoughts or judgement about what is and is not ok/appropriate.

I think it takes practice in the beginning. For me, anyway. It also takes me checking in with my friends and my therapist multiple times to ask if something is ok/not ok.

Not being codependent is a really different experience... When I really grasp it, I think it will be very cool.

I hope it's very cool for you too.

I had a hard time with that coming out of my last relationship. It took a long time to learn how to be alone and how to be myself. Way to go!!!

One thing that really helped me was finding something I could enjoy doing alone. Knitting, reading, writing, watching a good movie, etc. I had to teach myself to develop interests that didn't involve other people.

You have to learn how to be happy being you. Doing what you like for you and enjoying who you are without the validation of others. When you do that the codependency slips away and you become strong, confident, and happy.
This sets the table for a happy, drama free, good life. You won't ever let Someone treat for less than you are. You will find that doing new things will help in this endeavor.

You are off to a great start! I totally get how you're feeling. Finding yourself on your own after having defined yourself through another person is so very hard. I'm right there too. All of who I've become over these past ten years was/is completely intertwined with my WH. Now I'm trying to figure out how much of that is truly ME and what I need to let go of and seek out interests for myself. It's a work in progress.

Keep up the good work! (((knockeddown)))

Love it! I hope I get to that place one day, too. Let us know what the secret is, once you've mastered it.

Huge applause for you! The approach will let you build up a new, happier, stronger, healthier life. And you deserve it!!!