So I have this friend who I consider, or at least used to consider, very close to me. I met her when I first started university about two years ago, and our friendship has had ups and downs since then, as all relationships do. However, a few months ago, she did something that made me question everything.
Towards the end of the last semester, she gave me a handwritten letter. While I will remain vague about its contents because it contains things that are personal to her, I will give a brief summary: In it, she emotionally blackmails me by blaming many of her mental struggles on me, decrying the way I express my depression as childish and manipulative, and essentially tells me to change the way I behave or that I won't get the things I want from my life right now, and I will lose her friendship.
Now, around a month ago, she sent me a lengthy text apologizing to me and saying that she was just stressed at the time, and that she valued our friendship. I said that I forgave her, and we've just been sort of normal after that. However, the letter and its contents continues to surface in my mind, and I've not been able to move past it.
Here's the thing: In many ways, she's similar to me in terms of behavior, specifically a younger, less emotionally intelligent version. So because of this, I'm not sure whether what she did was a misguided attempt to reach out to me, or if she genuinely wanted to hurt me. In other words, whether this is a product of emotional immaturity, or a genuinely abusive mentality. And with all this in mind, I am really struggling on whether or not I should fully forgive her for what happened and put this all past me.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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Arriving by goat doesn't violate school policy!
28 Aug 2018, 1:12 am
