> Do you find the maintenance of friendships and of intimate relationships difficult in the same way? I don't find it difficult to maintain an intimate relatio

> Do you find the maintenance of friendships and of intimate relationships difficult in the same way? I don't find it difficult to maintain an intimate relationship, until the writ arrives! I can compromise, I can listen (up to a point - I am a man, after all), and I'm pretty tolerant. In both friendships and intimate relationships, I expect two-way trust. The difference is that in an intimate relationship, I'm relying on that trust; I don't place the same reliance on a good friend. I think it would be unkind (and unfriendly) to lean that heavily on a friend. I lost my closest and oldest friend when he stole something from me (it actually was my partner's, which made it much worse, because she had relied on my trust in him). But in general, I wouldn't be that put-out if a good friend broke trust; people have lives to live, they make commitments to new people, and they make new friends that might take a dislike to you. These things happen, but I don't expect them to happen in a committed relationship. But they do happen; so clearly my expectations are still out of whack with reality.