I’m so glad my family didn’t raise me to have an entitled mentality. Nobody has to help you. Nobody has to feel sorry for you. Nobody owes you anything. This is the mindset that literally carries me through life. I expect nothing from no one and I expect everything from MYSELF. I
My coworker ended her five-year marriage over something most people would probably call “small.”
She told me that in their home, she naturally took on the chores. She cooked. She did the laundry. She kept things running. It wasn’t something they formally discussed... it just became the routine. And she went along with it.
Then she got sick. Not just a light cold... the kind where your body feels heavy and even standing up is exhausting. For once, she couldn’t function the way she usually did.
That evening, her husband came home, saw the laundry basket, and separated his clothes from hers. He washed only his. Later, he made himself dinner, plated it, and ate. When she asked if he could make something simple for her too, he replied, “I’m exhausted. I don’t have the energy.”
She said it wasn’t even the words that hurt. It was the absence of instinct. The absence of care. The fact that helping her didn’t occur to him automatically the way serving him had always occurred to her.
That night, lying there sick and hungry, she realized she wasn’t in a partnership. She was in an arrangement where her labor was expected, but his effort was optional.
People think love disappears in dramatic arguments or explosive fights. But sometimes it fades in moments like that... when someone watches you struggle and chooses convenience over compassion.
I have a friend who doesn’t tell anyone anything. You won’t know she’s about to move until she has already moved. You won’t know she’s getting a car until she already has one. Even the problems between her and her boyfriend are none of our business.
I used to think she wasn’t being a good friend because she didn’t share her personal life. But now I understand why she doesn’t. It’s nothing personal, she just keeps her business private. And as I get older, I definitely see why.