Glad to read that other members are also recognizing self-accountability; rather than always shifting 100% blame on the gal.
Years ago, met a gal that to this day, she and I seemed to be quite in sync. This also included our negative traits as well Neither she nor I gave much 'wiggle room' for the other when it came to disagreements. When it was good, it was great and when it was bad, it was very bad.
After one of the many semi-break ups (usually lasting three to four days) I did some thinking and came to a positive realization. I shared this with her; thinking that this would solve nearly all our conflicts. I was rather stoked because it was like finding that missing piece of the puzzle.
I told her that I now realized that the things that bothered me about her ... were actually identical traits that also resided within me. She was also the introspective type and I figured that after sharing my epiphany, we'd get a good laugh at our own selves. Then, we'd work through our own stuff and the relationship would move forward.
Instead, her response was... "I see these things in you, but I don't see them within myself."
That's a red flag not just slapping me in the face, but pinning me down and saying "walk away now."
For the next year or so, when things were good, my clothes were ironed, she cooked and secks was always there. But, conflicts always continually occurred. She was the same version a year later and I wasn't (I continued to work on myself).
There actually is a silver lining to all this.
Throughout my childhood and adult life, I could never figure out why my parents got married in the first place (they divorced after a few years) . Following their divorce, their complaints about the other were also the very traits that they each possessed. They never saw the negatives within themselves; only in the other. With my relationship I described above, I was now able to better understand my folks and why they married and why they divorced.