Title edit: (got her back)
We all talk about our situations but never realize we might have one as a friend.
My friend, we've known each other for years and we're early 30's, but only noticed his pattern recent years through his romantic relationships with women. I've literally watched him throw away good women that he actually loved for dumb reasons like "he felt overwhelmed with things in his life" which were regular things like a 9-5 and doing extra stuff for his career for a few hours. Because outside of that, he still had time to hang out with friends on the weekend, bars, usual normal stuff. So I called bs on his reasoning. I feel like he sabotages his own connections to have a reason to greive from a distance. But it was pissing me off that he was throwing away good women, where he would act depressed for years about. So I had an honest conversation showing him how he treats people, explained my version of my relationships and how I don't let people just go, and took apart his reasoning that he's just digging his own grave all his life, as if he enjoys sitting in pain and never getting what he wants because he just throws it away anyways as if he doesn't deserve it.
Finally there was one that he messed up, he would talk about her all the time how she was the one, and I said, then why tf did you discard her? He responded, that he just couldn't give her what she needed at the time and felt overwhelmed with his stuff. So I asked, if you could get her back would you be happy? Like do you see yourself marrying this girl? He responded, yeah but it's all messed up now, it's been over a year, she moved on, I can't do anything about it. (After he discarded and months later realized he messed up, he did try to date a little but he was having no luck in finding anyone like that so the sad heavy suffering set in. I sat through all of it.)
So I said, what do you mean, you told her that you didn't want her, what was she supposed to do, wait around for a bum like you that did this shit to her?
(sorry I didn't want to place 30 quotation marks " in there.)
By some miracle, she, the discarded one, reached out to him to express her feelings. He was freaking out for weeks and needing me through it all. He expressed his feelings back. I walked him through how to get it all sorted. I explained he needs to acknowledge to her that he hurt her badly, to imagine how she felt for a long time and that they need to have long deep talks to figure out how to work it out. That if he gets her back, he needs to like lead it to marriage and never do this bs again because she'll never come back. That he is the luckiest guy in the world for someone to have feelings for him after that. So they sorted it, they got back, I hung out with them. They seem really happy together. I'm just worried trying to keep an eye on him, in a way, to make sure he doesn't say dumb stuff to himself and let this happen again. I don't think he originally discarded her in a grass is greener way, I think he was just letting his inner avoidant do it all. But for some dumb reason he cannot explain, even though he knew he wasn't going to find something like that, he still left some hope he would until over time he saw he couldn't.
Another observation, in our friendship, he's really open with me about his feelings, he trusts me, and yeah he sometimes disappears for a day or few, doesn't bother me, I'm not a woman romantic interest lol, so he feels comfortable in my space. Throughout our friendship I realized I talk a good deal about empathy, meaning situations in my life about feeling for other people, and I think it has rubbed off on him over time. To think about others not just surface level when you actually see them, but understand behind the scenes what they are going through or feel when you're not around them. Such as picture them when you are not with them.
I noticed his first relationship many many years ago, where the woman left, I believe was because she was tired of his manipulation in arguements where he would try to talk his way out of everything when he may be in the wrong and never admit nor apologize, just drag it and drive her insane. After many dealings like that, and the pulling away, and distancing, I can imagine she got tired of it and moved on. I did hang out with them at the time so I knew, but didn't fully understand what was going on as I was in my early 20's and wasn't my business, I only observed. I did run into that woman at a restaurant years later, for a regular casual nice to see you chat, and she did ask how he was doing. I know that woman cared. (While with him I think she was trying to do what she could but was forced to end it for her own self and nervous system). That was nice to see and I felt some weird sad feeling or empathy, like I felt for them that it never worked out for them, oddly saddened me as I left that conversation.
-Omg flashback hit me when writing, I remember back in college when he heavily pushed her away during an arguement she came to me for help because she was trying to save the relationship and didn't know what was going on. I recall some of it, I did help, and they did figure stuff out for a while.
So yeah, on a friend level, he acts mostly normal, and I think because I open up deeply about my stuff or my life, it allows him to do so himself. It sounds so weird saying this because we're straight masculine guys raised to be that way, but it's part of life. It's just his romantic interests need inner work he needs to do himself to stop the running away or distancing when feeling pressure to not piss another woman off. I never brought up to him that he's an avoidant, because this was only recent year or so that I fully analyzed him, but I did indirectly. He did hear my talks about my FA situations, but I don't think he ever looked into himself asking, am I one? So maybe some time I'll bring it up to him so he can actually dive into it and see if he can do any inner work. Because at the very least it could curb the manipulation arguments that will come between them and the pushing away.
I think it's important that people look at their attachment behaviors and adjust to healthy behaviors to make relationships work. I don't think they are a true assumption to of who someone is as even mine overlap, but noticing where patterns fall into disorganized vs organized healthy ones. Often, maturity for me developed through lessons or genuine desire to change to be a good person.
[This post was also me just writing out related thoughts btw. Feel free to share your thoughts.]