Story: You start dating someone. At the time, they aren't doing as good as they have been doing in the past. They're down on their luck. You still stay. You're the woman. But you are the provider. That concept doesn't align with your beliefs. The way you were raised. The way your father provides for your mother. But, you stay. Although you do for them, you still come last in their lives. But, still you stay. You see that the person you're with is content with doing nothing, being nothing, but you yearn for more out of your life. You talk to them. You talk to them. You talk to them. No progress. And still, you stay. You do this dance for too long. Way too long. Then, you realize your worth. You realize that, by staying with this person you aren't reaching you're full potential. You wouldn't mind staying if they had motivation. The same motivation you had for yourself. So, eventually you leave. And the blaming begins. They don't see their faults, only that you left. They claim you left them when times got hard. That you only cared when times were good. NEWS FLASH. Times were never good!...time goes by. The person changes. The pain that they felt from you leaving causes them to improve their lives. Everything that they couldn't do when they were with you, they now can do. They've "come up." It looks like in some weird way you were holding them back from their potential. So, your leaving was actually a blessing. Then, your ex meets someone else. The new person they've just met is there for the good times. And now you're left wondering...why? Why were you the stepping stone to their success? Why don't they come back and thank you, try to make things right with you? Their time and efforts now focused on someone else. Where was this new person when they had nothing? They weren't. I was there.