So, what do you do when people you expect better from are behaving badly? In theory, a real friend would speak up, explain how and why the person in question is effing up and make suggestions to help them fix it. But what do you do when you've attempted that route and are either "wrong", "interfering" or just written off entirely and ignored?
How many times do you try before you just need to give up for your own sanity? How often do you attempt to repair a broken relationship before it just becomes apparent that, maybe, the best answer is to walk away, regardless of how much it may hurt?
When do you admit to yourself that it's entirely possible you've been fed a line for too many years to count, allowed to believe the best in someone when they repeatedly prove that may not be the case, or realize that something, somewhere, somehow changed in the relationship, and no matter how much you are told to the contrary it hasn't, that it is just time to move on, move past and give up?
"Fool me once" as the saying goes... but fool me over and over and over again and it becomes apparent I've either become a masochist at some point or, in truth, you are not who you've led me to believe all this time. It hurts; it's hard to accept; but it's driving me deeper into a frustration I don't need at this time in my life. The effort has become far more than the rewards could ever be and that is sad, but sometimes the only recourse left is to walk away. You don't need me anymore, if you ever did, and I need to not be hurt any longer. I am not here as a friend of your convenience; I am not your mother to teach you right from wrong; but most of all, I am not putting up with it any longer.
I thank you for the times we had. But I can no longer hope for the times we could have. You have spoiled that; you have messed up too many times and ignored all chances to make amends for the hurts you've caused. The future of the relationship is now on you... like trust, my friendship has now become something you must EARN, not merely something you're given.
