Ciladan wrote:You have to let her go and make her own mistakes. But I don't think it's a good idea to end your friendship over it, just put it on hold. If (and when?) she screws up with this guy, she will need someone on the good side welcoming her back. If you are her only friend (and a good one I take it) then losing you would give her no incentive to return to light. She will continue lost down the path of self-destruction.
Give it time and when she comes back to you, offer her patience and forgiveness, then try again.
That basically sums up what I'm going to say. You don't need to end the friendship, but at the same time, let her know that you think she is making a bad choice and a mistake. If she calls to spew and cry on your shoulder about what her guy has done, just ask her this:
"Ok, let me ask you one question before you get started - are you leaving him?"
If yes "ok, continue - what's going on and what do you need?"
If no "I don't want to hear anymore about what your or his problems are then. If you know he's such shit, then leave. If not, call me when you decide you you're going to."
When I was a teenager and going into my early 20s, I played counselor for every dim-witted friend in a bad relationship. Eventually, I let them know that I love them and care about them, but I'm not gonna play hero and be the miracle worker to help them out of every bad situation they get themselves into, *especially* when I warned them prior to, nor was I going to allow them to make me their personal boo-hoo doormat to come crying to everytime they were upset with said person.
The above question and responses are mine, verbatum, from previous phone calls/conversations.
And mind you, it doesn't make you a bad friend - it is unfair for other people to put you in this type of position where you feel like shit because you can't do anything to help them when they are perfectly capable of helping themselves. There were days I lost sleep because I knew a friend of mine was being mistreated (not necessarily physically), but wouldn't leave, and I was trying to figure out how to convince her to do so. No kids, no marriage, not living together - nothing to keep her from leaving, and yet she was so sure she would be leaving a "good thing" if she did. I finally told her, "ok, know what? It's your life. Get treated like shit if you want and call me when you've decided to move on. I have an extra bed when you're ready to get out." She was beside herself pissed at the time. Nearly a year later, she came knocking on my door asking to spend the night and had broken up with the loser.
Maybe my answer isn't the answer to your problem, but that's how I feel about the situation. I have no patience anymore dealing with people who continue to look for abusive idiots to call home.
And Diekan, I agree with you - a good percentage of women are all about the facts of the 3 myths. They are also
usually the superficial glam-girls you men go drooling after without the slightest idea of what they look like without a sufficient coating of makeup or the "morning after."