Thanks MJK for your response and thanks Cbee for the reassurance. It is hard having to define a moral compass for yourself in situations and do the right thing and at the same time do what you feel you want to do.

Some of the main issues aside, could any of this be to do with the fact that we have been together so long? Is it normal for the passion to fade in a relationship of this duration?

I just had a look through my diary and this has been going on for at least a year in its current form. Sometimes the problems fall into the background and I am happy. Other times, the problems seem to come back.

I am not sure if the problems are mine now or if they originate from her. If my reference point and source of feedback for a lot of my actions is her, then I'm not sure if my actions/ thoughts are what is causing my unhappiness or her reactions to me.

Perhaps this means that I need a break from her to sort my head out, although I'm not sure how I'll do that. Perhaps a break is just a wimp's version of a proper split.