Laurie: Your story is all too familiar, too often repeated. We can wear ourselves down trying to figure out why we do or have done the things we did, how to be more Buddhist, how to break our patterns. The truth is we all have our needs, neuroses, and excentricities, and we all fall into patterns we seemingly can’t resist. I was in an abusive relationship a couple of years ago and I did not recognize it immediately. It was a constant push me away, pull me back- entice me, reject me, entice me. It took me four months to realize I was supporting this pattern by always going back, enticed. Finally, I just checked in with my gut and I realized even when enticed I was anxious awaiting the next rejection. I realized that’s no way for me to live or to thrive. Checking in with my gut, following my deepest feelings, allowed me to check out of the relationship. I salute you for checking in and checking out.