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It's difficult to begin a post about a subject that has been both a gift and a curse.
Those words, gift and a curse, has been the epitome of my last two weeks.

I wonder if its possible to be in love and keep the rationale part of your brain on at the same time. I'm surrounded by women involved in unhealthy relationships all day long. The women that I serve at work, and the women that are in my social circle.

I define what I do as a gift because I feel like I can spot an unhealthy relationship a mile away, in a span of 5 seconds. I can easily identify what the problems are and why they are occuring. I can easily figure out if its fixable or just a dead end. I can meet a guy, have one conversation with him, and make an educated decision if I want to continue this converation in the future.

It's also a curse when I see women in my social circle in an unhealthy relationships and that feeling returns, the "itch I cant scratch" feeling. I have to take deep breaths and remember my boundaries. I am there friend, their sister, their confidant; I am not their counselor. I cannot control who she sees and I cannot take off the rose colored glasses and show her the light.

I know the statistics. Just like addiction, one in four women at any given moment will be involved in a relationship where he hits her, threatens her, manipulates her, controls her.

How can she see she is being manipulated when she thinks she should "stick it out" and make it work? It is one of the most difficult things in the world to see someone close to me involved with a man that is abusive and manipulative. It's even more difficult when its not one ONE person, but everytime I turn around, one after the other of my female friends has a man that is just not good to her.