My partner of 15 years (37M) recently broke up with me because he said he feels like he missed out on dating and wants to see if he can find something more exciting before he’s too old. I (36F) was pretty blindsided as we had just taken a big international trip together and I thought we had a great time.
I begged him to work on the relationship but he wouldn’t go to couples counseling with me. We’d try to work on things for a bit, go on date nights, spice things up in the bedroom, but he’d inevitably say he didn’t feel the way he should about me and that he was confused about what he wanted. I gave this 6 months and then decided to move out because I couldn’t take being in this limbo state.
He kept saying we could remain best friends, and I said no. We saw each other a few times after I moved out and texted a bit here and there, but it was too painful for me. Last week, I told him I wanted to go no-contact and for him to only reach out to me if he wants to have a serious conversation and put in the work to be in a committed relationship with me (if that’s even what I want in the future).
Have you ever been in a similar situation and how have you dealt with it? Any other words of encouragement?