Overwhelmed by Worries for My Loved Ones
Assalamu alaikum everyone, I really just need to vent. I could use prayers, kind words, some good advice-anything. Honestly, I have no one to talk to. The stress is piling up so much right now. I try my best to stay positive, but some days it all catches up with me. I only have three close people in my life: my husband and my parents. I love them with all my heart. My whole life revolves around worrying about them. My husband and I were introduced and got married within 7 months. After the wedding, he was really harsh with me, always yelling over the smallest things-like if I bumped into a door or made a tiny mistake. I ended up with constant muscle tension and even some grey hairs. After two years of marriage, he finally improved. Alhamdulillah, he's much better now, but I still struggle to move past the hurt and trauma he caused. Sometimes when he gets into a mood, I instantly get defensive, put up walls, and obsess over it all day. I never knew he would be like this before we married. He only changed after I completely closed off my emotional side from him. I still cry alone sometimes about the past, but most days I'm okay. When we argue-which is much less often and not as serious-I act like I don't care, but inside it's painful. I can't forget what I went through. It changed me in so many ways. I've never been in such a toxic space before. I don't want to divorce him because he's not that bad now and has really changed. It's been 10 months. Please don't tell me to leave him. Then there are my parents. I have no siblings, and they mean everything to me. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and this is the hardest thing our family has ever faced. Please make du'a for her long life. Please pray for her. I live just a 7-minute drive away and try to be there for her, but it never feels like enough. And my father. He's a very complicated man, and I worry about him like a parent worries for a child. He's so stubborn. His siblings all take advantage of him, and he cares for his younger sister who is physically disabled. I know looking after her is a good deed, but my father is the eldest and the most unwell among them. He has health problems, and seeing him lift her and take her to appointments makes me wish his other siblings would share the load. I dislike them so much. They've made him cry. Their children disrespect him. My father's health has deteriorated because of his extended family. I'm not blaming my aunt with the disability. The rest of them just treat him badly because he didn't earn much and relied on my mother. My father is also very stubborn. I hire people to cut his grass or clean the house, but he refuses and doesn't like me "wasting money." I took my parents for 'Umrah and arranged for someone to push his wheelchair, but he got angry and was so difficult during the trip. He wants to control everything but doesn't realize he's over 70 and can barely walk. And he's a soft person-he never stands up for himself. He just takes everything silently, and as his daughter, it makes me so upset. I know these might sound like minor things, but I feel like they're destroying my health. There's so much I haven't even mentioned. I've lost hair, gained weight… I look at photos from before I got married and just cry. This post isn't about me. I'm not trying to be selfish and center it on myself. Just pray that I can handle my family and care for them. I can't stop thinking about them. I feel so alone. When I meet friends, I sometimes share things about my personal life, and then I end up arguing with my husband. I don't have many well-wishers around. I have cousins who wish me well, but we're all busy with our married lives now. Please make du'a for my family. Please pray my mother recovers from cancer. Please pray my father eases up. Please pray my husband becomes soft and gentle with me. Please pray I find peace. I can't tell my husband all this because he's too practical and would say I'm being ungrateful or that this is just life. I just want a hug. I want to cry in my mother's arms, but I don't want to stress her. My mother is my soulmate. She's the only person who truly understands me in this world.