Taken For Granted

Today, I ticked off a friend who hadn't given me a straight answer when I had messaged to plan a meet-up and out-of-the-blue asked if we were meeting today. I guessed that he had had other plans which fell through. Since the sun was out today, I toyed with sweeping my annoyance aside and meeting but I dropped the idea pretty quickly. I am someone who is quick to respond to texts and messages. Over the years I have learnt not to expect the same of other people, but there is a difference between responding late or missing seeing the message and not bothering to respond. Being conflict-averse, expressing discomfort doesn't come naturally to me but I am learning that you are ultimately responsible for setting the tone of your interactions, especially in relationships you can walk away from. If someone treats you badly and you don't  call them out on it, when the repeat their behaviour, you are at least partially responsible. Burning bridges is not easy, especially when you don't have a lot of bridges, but its not healthy for your self-esteem if you continue to cling to a creaky bridge. In any case, and this is a topic for another day, I am increasingly trying to come to terms with being an island.