<human>: I feel like scum for this, but I've changed a great deal as a person in the last year and only recently have I realized that I'm not ready for a relationship yet. When I got into this relationship, I had all these romantic ideas and was thinking with my heart rather than my head. I do love this person, but I've come from a lifetime of abuse and I'm just realizing that I have a ton of work to do on myself before I'm ready for a relationship with anyone at all.   

I feel like a more naive version of myself committed to this relationship, 
and I'm no longer that person. Is there any way to possibly let him 
down gently, when we had so many plans for the future? "I need to work 
on myself" sounds like such a poor excuse, but I genuinely mean it. I 
had a kind of horrifying realization that my idea of the future was built 
on blind optimism, and that I'm no longer a blind optimist.

Can you succinctly summarize the text in 1-3 sentences?
<bot>: Committed to a relationship as a more naive person, grew up and realized I have to work on myself before being in a relationship at all. What's the best way to handle this?