Monday, 8 July 2013
HE'S AFRAID OF COMMITMENT, WHAT DO I DO?
"Competing
in sports has taught me that if I'm not willing to give 120 percent, somebody
else will." ~ Warren Farrell
'Fear
of commitment' is a well-known phrase. We hear it in the media, as well as use
it to describe ourselves or other people who seem chronically unable to decide
whether to commit properly to a relationship.
Sometimes
such people are tagged 'commitment phobes' (1). They fear being
'trapped' and losing, as they see it, their freedom. Fear of commitment might
range from a little uncertainty about your relationship to an absolute terror
of 'settling down'.
Take
Nigel, for instance:
I
have heard variations of this anxiety so often! In this piece, I want to
explore exactly what fear of commitment is, why it might have arisen, and,
vitally, how to overcome it.
Fear
of commitment: What's behind it?
At
the heart of all fear is the dread that something might be lost. So someone who
has trouble committing may fear losing options. But every decision we make in
life, by definition, means losing other options. No matter what you do, there
is always another kind of life you could have lived. Commitment phobes
fear making the 'wrong decision'.
There's
something else. People who fear committing to a relationship will often have
difficulty committing to other decisions, too. They may have trouble
deciding on careers, where to travel on vacation, or even what to eat in a
restaurant. So often, a strong relationship pattern will be echoed in other parts
of a person's life. So what does someone who seems desperately fearful of
commitment really want?
Fearing
what we need
The
irony is that fear of commitment may mask a desperate desire for the
intimacy and security that comes from a healthy long-term relationship.
Sometimes we most fear what we most need - in case it doesn't 'work out'.
It
may be that, deep down, the person fears being rejected themselves or feels
that the consequences of a future relationship breakdown will be all the worse
the more time they invest in that relationship. Maybe they have experienced
feeling trapped in a relationship before or perhaps they have a history of
painful breakups, of hurting and being hurt. Or they may have witnessed the
rocky relationships of parents and have the 'blueprint' that 'no relationship
ever works out'.
But
any fear will have consequences if prolonged and intense enough - and that's a
problem.
The
consequences of a fear of commitment
There
are dangers involved with not committing, which include the possibility
of a lonely life and the throwing away of perfectly good relationships, as the
baby gets thrown out with the proverbial bathwater.
Fear
of commitment can have devastating emotional consequences, both for the
commitment phobe and the people with whom they get involved. Jean, another
client, described how her boyfriend of three years just walked out on what
seemed to her a perfect relationship:
"It
was like he was making up excuses for why the relationship had to end, but none
of them rang true to me. I felt there must have been something else going on,
something he was afraid of. I could understand it if things had been really
rocky, but they hadn't been. I was heartbroken."
But
besides running from seemingly good or promising relationships, what other
relationship 'symptoms' might the fearer of commitment display?
The
hopeless lure of the impossible relationship
It's
a myth that people with a chronic fear of settling down always run from
relationships. Sometimes I suspect they also pursue 'unattainable people' or
get involved with people they know, deep down, are unsuitable for them. The
seeds of the convenient end to the relationship are in its very beginning.
These
relationship strategies, just as much as running from good relationships, may
be a way of avoiding lasting commitment.
So,
do you think you have a fear of relationship commitment? Remember, it's
important to know that doubts now and then are natural and we can all wonder
whether we are doing the right thing sometimes. A real fear of commitment tends
to become obvious when we take a long, hard look at our relationship history.
What
can you do about it if you really are frightened to settle?
1)
Name your fear
Ask
yourself: what exactly are you frightened of? We can get so accustomed to using
words that we stop seeing the reality behind them, so what does 'commitment'
actually mean? And what exactly do you fear losing? Focus on the fear and see
where it leads in your mind. Does it lead to an image of losing the
relationship itself at some future time or a single lifestyle or being unable
to do what you want when you want? Really get to grips with exactly what it is
that frightens you, because 'commitment' is just a word.
Think
about what it is exactly that you would be 'giving up'. 'Freedom', 'independence'?
What exactly do these words mean to you? No relationship or marriage should
take away all freedoms or independence. In fact, a healthy relationship should help
you meet your needs for freedom and independence as part of the relationship
itself.
Maybe
you are used to relationships that are very controlling of your life and time;
but these are never healthy relationships if they are based on control of you
or by you. A healthy, loving, and respectful relationship should, in essence,
be easy to commit to, just as a sturdy sea-worthy boat should be easy to board
- easier than, say, a threadbare raft made from rotten wood.
What
do you value so highly that you fear surrendering? And ask yourself: Do I want
to be 'playing the field' or totally self-referential when I'm 30, 40, 50, and
so on? If these ideas have been holding you back...
2)
Decide to be more decisive
Indecisiveness
becomes a habit over time. Whenever we make a decision about anything, we are committing
to it - at least for the time being. If commitment to any decision has been a
problem for you, then start practicing being more decisive in lots of small
ways.
Sometimes
the more time we spend weighing up pros and cons, the more confused we get. And
research has even found that over-thinking a decision can lead to poorer
choices (2). So get used to just deciding where to eat, what to do,
and how to spend your time, and you'll find decisiveness becomes a habit, too.
3)
Imagine the fear of commitment has gone
We
can get so bound up in what is wrong, we stop looking at how things could be
right...in the future. There are many benefits, both physical and mental, to
being in a healthy relationship, but you may have only been focussing on your
fear of commitment.
Really
imagine and perhaps write down in detail your future life without the
fear. If the fear just wasn't there to anything like the same degree, what
would you do? How will other people know you're braver in this way? What
choices will you make free from such a fear? Really explore this.
To
help you do this 'thought experiment', you can listen to this free audio
session to give you a taste of exploring alternatives in your future - at least
imaginatively.
4) Never say forever because now is all we have
Fear
of commitment is so often just a dread of cutting off other options - and
thereby feeling trapped. But the funny thing is that, of course, now is all we
ever have. Sure, decisions in the present affect the future, but we never
really have to say 'forever' about anything, because we don't actually know
what will happen in the future.
When
I treat a smoker to help them quit, I like to take pressure off by reminding
them that they don't need to "be sure they'll never smoke again".
Why? Because that's too much pressure. All they need know is that right now
it's not what they do. I don't need to say to myself: "I will definitely
never smoke!" I doubt I will, but I don't need to think about not smoking
far out into the future - right now, it's not what I do.
It's
the same with anything. We never have to say 'forever' because life is a series
of present moments. Really think about this; maybe what works now won't work in
ten years, but maybe it will. The fact is, all of life is an
exploration and wanting absolute certainty all of the time about everything is
for narrow thinkers.
Trying
not to make mistakes may be the biggest mistake of all, and here I'm reminded
of the words of the Joni Mitchell song:
"Don't
it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's
gone..."
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