Jr :
I’ve spent years trying to understand why I cheated, because saying I was selfish or made a mistake never felt like it fully explained what was going on inside me.
Through therapy, I realized I had become addicted to attention, especially attention from women. A lot of that went way further back than our relationship. Growing up, I never felt like I got the attention, affection, or validation I wanted from my mom. Somewhere along the way, I learned to fill that hole by getting attention from other women. It made me feel wanted, important, and good enough, even if only for a little while. But I want to be very clear about something. That explains part of why I was the way I was. It does not excuse what I did. You didn’t cause it. You weren’t responsible for filling that hole in me. I was responsible for recognizing what was happening and dealing with it without betraying you, and I didn’t. Looking back, I don’t think I was chasing another woman as much as I was constantly chasing the feeling of being wanted. And the messed-up part is that no amount of attention would have ever been enough, because I was trying to get other people to fix something inside me that I needed to work on myself. It took years of therapy and a lot of looking at parts of myself I wasn’t proud of to understand that. I can’t change what I did or the hurt I caused. I can only own it and understand myself well enough that I never become that person again. Sorry for the lengthy text.
2026-08-17 02:07:00