FIRST up is a disclaimer!  I got a couple of apology emails from dear women who somehow thought they were the source of today’s earlier chat on “electronic etiquette”.  Especially the email that ‘yanked my chain’!

Let me say this for all who read here to know!  It was none of our dear women who come here or have become a registered member of our community!  So rest assured dear friends - it was not any of you.

Now to the subject at hand.  I get a load of stuff in my inbox as I’ve said before.  This a.m. was no different!  There they were - all those glorious pieces, many of which I open & save because they have valuable ’stuff’ in them.  One of them this a.m. got particular attention.  It came from a known source & I chuckled as I read the contents.

Then the chuckle turned to disappointment; then to just short of rage. 

“I was waiting for that to happen,” I thought.

How many times have each of us who’ve lived more than a few ‘chrono-mature’ seasons and picked up a bit of wisdom along the way; found ourselves in a situation where someone or something we trusted went “south” (as the old expression goes)?

How deeply does the sense of ‘betrayal’ cut?  Whether it’s actual or imagined - it hurts.  Hurt creates psychic (or emotional pain) that leads to anger and so on & so forth.

What really causes the chain reaction is fear.  When something creates a sense of fear; our human mechanisms protect us by disguising it as “pain” or “anger”.  I always have to remind myself of this when experiencing a sense of hurt or anger. 

But there’s no way to ’slice it’!  When a situation occurs that even has the hint of betrayal with it - it may throw us for a loop.  For me, it’s like the wind blew a big tree across my path and I have to stop & figure out how to quickly remove it without getting injured in the process.

Sometime ago, I heard a woman share her own agonizing story of betrayal with all the gory details included.  She’s less chrono-mature than me, but certainly traveling the 2nd half of the journey.  What struck me were her concluding words. . .

“While it appears to only ’sting’ as I’ve grown older; in reality, it has gone much deeper; hurts more & continues to throw up pangs of pain much longer than when I was younger.  Don’t ever let anyone tell you that we wear it better and carry it easier in our advancing years - not true!”

I thought about her statement and wondered if it was simply specific to her and her personality/temperment or a more general observation of how those of us who are ‘chrono-maturing’ handle the minor & not so minor betrayals that come with life.  Come because we’re all human and fall short. . .

I don’t think it will ever get easier to feel a sense of betrayal from folks we’ve trusted.  We may not lash out or buy a voo-doo doll or some other sort of immature act.  As for me, I’ll roll it into a ball and file it away in my memory chest so as not to be so naive the next time.

With this as my object lesson for today, I’m just going to sit back, wait and watch to see if and when “the other shoe drops”.   But you can bet I’ll keep the memory of potential betrayal close at hand so as not to walk that path with that situation again!

So my wisdom (of sorts) for each of us today is to let the agony of betrayal wash over us as it will anyway - and then go our merry way knowing we learned a new thing that will be valuable as we continue the journey!

Have an awesome day finding trusting relationships that only mellow with age!

P.S.  Paraphasing Ron, “relationships don’t end - they just change!”

Linda, a fellow journeyer