When you expect to find the best in people, you will most often find it. But occasionally, you will be sorely disappointed.

Coco Densmore
3 min readSep 12, 2023
Photo by Mehrshad Rajabi on Unsplash

September 11, 2023

I was, for so long, for most of my life, so patient. If people crossed boundaries, I’d let them. Then in the last few years, I’d tell them. Then I’d give them another chance. And another, sometimes years and years of chances. And finally, I’d find some way to wriggle out of the relationship.

Well, I may have “wriggled” out the first few times, then I got stronger and more deliberate. Now I give a warning, and sometimes a second chance, sometimes another, and another warning and then I’m out. I’m not just talking about dating relationships; I’m talking about friendships as well. Casual connections, too.

I’ll not tolerate lying and I’ll not tolerate disrespect. I’ll not tolerate someone treating me poorly. I’ll not tolerate someone losing their patience with me, over and over. Sometimes, because everyone loses their patience sometimes, but not as a pattern. I don’t deserve that. I’ll not tolerate someone who doesn’t see the whole of me as a person of great value, as worthy.

I’ll not tolerate someone who denigrates my beliefs. I’m not so inflexible I won’t listen to another’s point of view, particularly of those with whom I have a trusting…

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Coco Densmore

Coco Densmore writes about Embracing Her Single, being HSV-2+, living with bipolar mental illness, and overcoming childhood sexual abuse. www.cocodensmore.com.