Treat me badly once, I watch and hope you won't do that again; I may or may not say something, depending.
Treat me badly again, and I will let you know that you are hurting me, trying as best I can to help you understand what you are doing against me and yourself.
Hurt me again, and I will tell you that I am not going to stay in a relationship with someone who is abusive, and that you need to know this. While I want to help if I can, I won't be around if you don't change the way you treat me.
Hurt me again, in spite of what I have told you -- and tried to help you with...and I am gone.
So the real question is at this point...would I rather be alone, and open to a new level of relationship with someone who isn't abusive? Or, stay in a relationship where I already am, for all intents and purposes...alone.
The above description applies to our relationships with others...as well as with the interior parts of us that punish us...like fearful, worried, or any other self-compromising thoughts and feelings.
