The breakthrough came for me in December when I realized I could live my life separately from him. I was no longer one of his appendages. I was my own person, capable of thinking and doing things on my own. I decided I would live my life for myself, and make my own decisions, regardless of his opinions. I knew he would always have a problem with whatever I was doing and was always going to attack me with his complaints and insults, but his opinions didn’t really matter anymore. I had to do what I thought was right, whether he liked it or not. I stopped worrying about what he was going to say. I stopped fretting over what he was going to do. I realized he really had no power over me other than what I gave to him. Since then contact has been minimal and I’ve gone on with my life. I’m living my life for me now, based on what I want to do, not what he is going to say about it. And he really doesn’t have much to say anymore. Maybe he gets it now that I really don’t care.