"What to do about your jealousy if you've been
cheated on in the past"
by Susie and Otto Collins
***QUESTION FROM A READER:
"How can I NOT be suspicious and jealous of my new husband
when I was cheated on by past relationships?"
>>>Suggestion: If you've been cheated on
before--either by your current partner or by
someone in a past relationship and jealousy
is an issue for you...
Then we highly suggest that you click this link
http://www.NoMoreJealousy.com/CheatedOn
to find out about how you can listen in on a special one-time
only special web audio cast and teleseminar.
"What to do about your jealousy if you've
been cheated on before"
http://www.NoMoreJealousy.com/CheatedOn
>>>OUR COMMENTS:
To the person who wonders...
"How can they NOT be suspicious and jealous of their
partner when they were cheated on in the past...?"
That's the bad thing about jealousy--
If you've been cheated on in the past, it
usually just follows you from relationship to
relationship until you do something about it.
So we're not surprised that you're finding that you are suspicious
and jealous in your new relationship.
You think that it will be different in a new
relationship--and it can be for awhile--but
then your old fears start coming up again.
You end up saying and doing things that
start sabotaging your new relationship--like asking incessant
questions about where they've been and who they've been talking
to.
There's a running dialogue in your mind that says you've
been cheated on before and you have to stay vigilant and control
your partner or it will happen again.
You find yourself pulling away from your new partner when
what you really want is to get closer.
But the opposite happens...
Your suspicions hold you back from feeling the closeness,
connection and love that you really want.
So how do you get rid of that feeling that since it happened
to you in the past, you will be cheated on again if you aren't
hyper-vigilant?
Whether it happened in past relationships or in your current
relationship--being cheated on can be really difficult to
move past.
Being cheated on can certainly be a self-esteem killer and
you can feel really embarrassed that it happened to you.
After being cheated on, the underlying message to yourself
seems to pretty simple--"there's something wrong with
me."
No matter what the circumstances were, there's the feeling
that "If I had been enough, (pretty enough, rich enough,
thin enough) this wouldn't have happened" or some similar
thought.
Here are some ways that you can begin to let the past go
so you can build or rebuild your new relationship in healthier
ways...
1. Start working on building your self-confidence if it's
been damaged by being cheated on.
Self-confidence is a feeling of certainty inside
you about who you are--that you are worthwhile and valuable.
All of us take hits to our self-confidence from
time to time--feel less than certain about our
lives--and being cheated on can certainly be
one of those ways we get hit.
If this is true in your life, ask yourself this
question...
"What can I do to start feeling better about
myself?"
It might be you start something new in your
life--or it might be that you join a group
online that focuses on building self-esteem.
When you've been cheated on, it's very
tempting to find people who will reinforce the victim feeling--but
that will only keep you
stuck and feeling sorry for yourself.
So we're challenging you to find some ways
to start feeling BETTER about yourself.
2. Begin a forgiveness process--assuming that your current
partner is not currently the cheating culprit.
The truth about forgiveness is that it's really for you--and
not for the other person.
One woman wrote this to us...
"I have spent many years wanting my jealousy problem
to go away.....instead I was getting deeper and deeper into
jealousy bondage. About six years ago I found that poor health
was the price I was paying for running from rather than facing
and dealing with negative emotions."
She said that our "No
More Jealousy"
program helped her to heal her jealousy issues and part of
that was going through a forgiveness process of what happened
in the past.
She had to come to a deeper understanding about the other
person--and then she could begin to let what happened in the
past go.
Is forgiveness easy?
Usually not if you've been hanging onto past hurts--even
subconsciously.
But it is one of those steps you just have to take if you
want to heal yourself.
Can you forgive too quickly and then you're open for it just
happening again?
Let's get this straight...
Forgiveness doesn't mean you hang up your reasoning powers
and become a doormat.
And it shouldn't happen automatically if someone says he
or she's sorry over and over again.
But with that being said, it is possible to forgive, be compassionate
and still draw a line for yourself that actually increases
your self-confidence.
3. Start looking toward what you want.
Susie remembers the moments several months after her ex husband
left their relationship--when it suddenly dawned on her that
she could look toward what SHE wanted instead of what it was
that had ended (and how it ended.)
What a concept!
We realize that it's simple to say but not always easy to
do but...
It's your life we're talking about here and your level of
happiness.
Take a moment now and look toward your future and what you
want.
We invite you to take one step forward toward creating that
future.