Want to share this w/ my GLBT friends: on resolving my mid-life crisis.

[closeupready]

Recently, I posted about my significant other and the dissolution of our relationship.

And it was a biggie, but in addition to that, there were many other kinds of misfortune and betrayal that have happened to me over the last few years. And I guess it all came together and threw me into a mid-life crisis about myself and who I am, why I am who I am, and why life has happened to me as it has. (Not so bad that I ever needed counseling - I don't really get depressed anymore.)

And just this morning, after literally years of struggling with searching for answers, I think I'm finally putting the pieces together.

I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of tons of people, and the GLBT community here is probably one of the biggest sources of insight I've had to help me through it. I do tend to be reticent about my own life with regard to specifics, but contributing here and there from time to time, even starting a thread, many of you have helped me to decipher the various riddles and mysteries I've had.

So I do thank you all from the bottom of my heart for sharing with us (me) your own personal experiences, and listening to my thoughts, and in turn talking me through mine. It's not easy to post such experiences so publicly (maybe a little easier if you're using a pseudonym, as most of us do), but we learn about ourselves together, since as a community, we share so many common experiences.

[Rowdyboy]

1. I live in the rural south with few LGBT friends available and DU has also been ny main source

for thinking things out. I can relate to your experience on a very direct level. Other than my partner, LGBT posters here have been the only ones there whenever I needed you. They've have had my back when I was right, corrected me when I was wrong and consoled me when I hurt. They've continued my "education" and evolution. Anonymity has sometimes let me be more open than I would normally be and thats a good thing.

So, in short, I thank you right back-you and all the posters, current and past who've made this such a welcoming, supportive and enlightening place.

[closeupready]

3. And of course some of us with blood family can't talk even to them.

So yeah, this place is cool.

[William769]

2. Even though we are a "internet Family" here at DU

We are still a family in this Group. We take the good with the bad. We laugh, we joke, we sometimes bicker, we praise, we mourn.

Back in 2006 when David passed, I had a big support Group of friends to help me get through the day, but when I found myself home alone at night with no one to talk to and my thoughts running wild on how life was going for me, all I had to do was log onto DU's Lgbt section and there was someone there always willing to hold my hand.

Many of us have come a long way together, and we still have a long way to go, but each and everyone of us here is special and our diverseness is the best part of us all.

So heres to you and all other LGBT members here may the good times keep on coming.

[closeupready]

4. +1000.

(And you, sir, are a smiley show-off! )

[mitchtv]

5. good for you

you always seem to have your head screwed on correctly. This forum can be a great help, Too bad we have lost so many over the years. I hope you continue to move foward, and have the best of everything in your life

[closeupready]

6. You are such a sweetheart!

[Behind the Aegis]

7. As a former counselor, counseling isn't just for extremes.

Sometimes an uninvolved ear can really help, as well. It can be easier to vocalize disappointments, fears, anger, and a few other emotions to a stranger because you don't feel like you are judged (if the counselor is a good one), and you don't worry about anything you say coming back to bite you in the ass, like sometimes one may feel when sharing with a close friend.

I am glad you are working through things. The ending of a relationship is a difficult thing, romantic or not. I often feel our break-ups are worse because we don't often really get the support we need, unless we happen to have a very tight-knit group of friends and/or strong community.

I wish you the best and hope you continue to share with us, and use us as a sounding board.

[closeupready]

8. Thank you - I appreciate that.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. think of counseling as something indulgent not extreme

i always like counseling. one hour to tell someone every little thing that annoys me about the world without having to hear every little thing that annoys them

it's like getting a massage. very few need it, but a lot of us could benefit/enjoy it

Anyway, i hope things get awesome for you soon, you sure as hell deserve it

[closeupready]

10. Well, since I think I deserve it, too, that makes at least two of us.

If I could just get more people to agree, I'd stop complaining.