You are Teaching Others How to Treat you
Have your friends ever let you down? How did you handle it? Moan incessantly, noisily, or subtly? Or just pretend nothing has happened?
Recently an old classmate who hasn’t been in touch for many years found me over social media. After exchanging some warm words, she asked me to find a native English speaker teenager for her 12 years old son to practice English. In beginning, I hesitated because I am new in Canada. However, I decided to help her as much as I could. Later on, the action turned out to be unnecessary. She told me her son didn’t like her idea. Since then she just disappeared, as if she never showed up.
Before she took the initiative, she didn’t make a consensus with her son. Unhappily, I acted like a fool. It seems similar things come to me often. In the past, I used to ignore my bad feelings and pretend nothing has happened because facing the truth is even more painful than being tricked and teased.
The truth is the person who hurt me was not somebody else, it was myself.
Indeed, no one hurt themselves consciously. But some involuntary behaviors are sending signals to others, “hey, you can treat me as you like.”
