A Bowl of Her Own: How I Escaped The Loveless Fishbowl

I’m done sparring with the Betta fish. Have you heard of them? Bettas have to be alone in their own bowl. If not, they will gobble up any other fish in a second. You have to throw them tiny fish called Tetras every day to keep them satisfied. And, they are stupidly vicious! If you put their bowl in front of a mirror, they will attack themselves.

I dated a Betta fish. I didn’t realize it at first, of course. I stayed “in the bowl” thinking we just had some stuff to get through.

Over time, it became apparent that this “man,” (I use the term loosely) was not equipped to share his bowl, (Life) with me.

He just wasn’t bred that way.

I knew after several unexpected attacks to my character and psyche that it was time to save myself.

Like many fish who shouldn’t share the same bowl, he was getting bigger, and I was withering. There was not enough oxygen for the two of us. And he was not a sharer of whatever sustenance the bowl held.

Which wasn’t much.

There was no room for love in that bowl for two fish. Not with his outsized ego and my subpar confidence. I had to jump out, even though I had no idea what I’d be jumping into.

So I did. I lept out. It’s been a bit of an adjustment being out of the bowl. I flopped around awhile, but now I have a bowl of my own. And I’m slowly finding ways to re-nourish myself.

To thrive once again.

If you are in a similar situation, or you have experienced this, you know what I am saying. If you are still in this type of “relationship” (using the term as loosely as possible) you know what you have to do, and I encourage you to do it as soon as possible. Life is too short to live this way. And if you are scared, I promise you, you will go back to being yourself again once you take this leap. You know, that woman who lived life on her own terms, and was free to be the amazing creature who lives in the sea of your own making and swims free to new beginnings, unknown, but sure to be beautiful.

As the saying goes, there’s a lot of fish in the sea. So get out of that bowl!!!

We all go through major life transitions when relationships end… Through this website, I will share my thoughts as I walk the path of “New-Self” discovery. It doesn’t matter which side of 50 you are on. The real question is, Are you ready to live life? To forge a Path of Your Own Making (For a change!)? Then stop dwelling over the What-Might-Have-Beens and join me. Share your thoughts here, comment on mine, and let’s do this together!