Whack!

How often will a puppy keep coming up to you if you bop it on the nose? What if you bopped it every time it approached? Or maybe just once in a while? At what point does the puppy think, "I don't have to put up with this," and goes in the other direction?

Sometimes I feel like the puppy. When I get "bopped on the nose," I want to run...M-E-D-8-ly. (Did you figure that one out yet?) I shut down. I don't want to be around the person. At times I just want out of the relationship all together. With most folks, I am pretty easy-going. But when someone I love hurts me, it is devastating. Yeah, yeah, I know people are human and we all make mistakes. But it crushes me when the blow is delivered by a "friend." I can only imagine what Jesus must've been thinking when Judas betrayed him. He even knew it was coming!

So anyway, back to the question. What do you when you get bopped? Do you shut down, lash out, gossip, forgive and forget, etc.? Do you keep returning? Are you more guarded the next time? And when is enough enough? I'd love your thoughts.