In the past few months I have ended two friendships. Not because of anything heinous on either person's part either, just because it seemed like the thing to do. As I think analogies make the best reference points, I think I can utilize finance/investments in these cases. I really felt that I wasn't getting enough return on my investment in these particular friendships. Not that I was invested a whole lot, but somehow it ended up being too much anyway. For a while I thought I should treat these investments/friendships like I would a mutual fund, even though I had the feeling it was tanking I wanted to stick with it and eventually see an overall growth. But after a while, I decided that the risk wasn't worth it, how many times do you let a person hurt your feelings before it is enough...once, twice, ten times, when you finally can't keep track anymore? After the uncomfortable feelings of wondering if I pulled out too soon subside, it becomes clear that there are other investments out there that might be better, maybe even a personal/solitary savings account.
Part of me wonders if maybe my problem with relationships is that I think about them too rationally. Maybe I should stop comparing them to financial portfolios. Clearly my checks & balances version of relationships isn't working out as well as it should. Are there other ways? Should I stop expecting the whole push & pull, give & take version and just settle for the pull & give? I'm stumped.
No comments:
Post a Comment