I gave too much benefit of the doubt

Dear Delyara, Looking back, I think one of the reasons that friendship hurt me so much is that I gave too much benefit of the doubt for too long. I translated. Excused. Explained. Made allowances. Stayed patient. Told myself I was being mature, kind, understanding. Maybe I was. Maybe I was also slowly abandoning my own clarity in the process. That’s the painful thing about over-empathy. By the time you see the truth clearly, you are already tired from how long you defended its absence.