My (27M) wife (28M) got married very recently. I work as a consultant for a small boutique firm specialising in financial services working with banks, but the nature of my work is project based, involves a lot of travelling and can have periods of down time.
I’ve been stressing out a lot lately on trying to get on a better career path. Long story short, I completed the second round of interviews at a really reputable international bank but unfortunately I didn’t get through. I was so so sad because I prepped loads and really put my all into the process, so getting the rejection was a bit of a hard pill to swallow. Ordinarily I would have spiralled with a bunch of negative self talk and beat myself up with a lot of “what ifs.” I’m usually somewhat of an over-achiever so I get really self critical and hard on myself, probably after having grown up in a really demanding household.
My wife gave me so much love and support though, I can’t even put into words how SAFE it made me feel as a man. I think it’s really common to hear about women wanting to feel safe with their man but in that moment I felt so safe with her, that she didn’t look down on me for failing or lose respect for me (again I know this is a mindset I need to work on, probably stemming from strict, demanding parents) and that she said that she’s so proud of me.
I’ve been really burnt out from work lately because I keep getting everyone else’s work piled onto me (small firm and the managing partner sees me as reliable) and to get that rejection left me feeling so dejected. All I wanted to do was to escape into my PlayStation for the day, something I rarely do, and she was just next to me all day watching me play one of my favourite childhood games and we talked about the storyline and how cool I used to find certain bits of it. She’s not into video games AT ALL but the genuine enthusiasm she showed while sitting with me made me forget about the shitty mood I was in. As I write this I realise that when I’d get bad grades at school (when I say bad grades I mean getting an A instead of an A+ lol) my parents would blame it on the amount of time I’d spend boxing or playing video games. I’ve just realised while writing this that I think my wife just healed a little part of that kid in me, to understand that it’s okay to take a break and to do things you love especially after facing a setback.
Honestly, being with her makes me wanna work harder so I can give her everything she wants.
Man, I really love my wife and she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I just wanted to share this story with you guys.