In my mid-20e and have a DSis, with whom I generally have a difficult relationship.
We’re very close in age - just a year between us. Perhaps because of that, there was a lot of competition between us growing up, particularly in our teen years. I think this was mainly instigated by her, but that’s beside the point.
Our relationship was okay for a while, but then became quite strained during lockdown - I think because we were both under stress. Anyway, I’ve since had a long course of therapy (now finished) to deal with my relationship with her, which has been helpful. The therapy has been especially good for helping me to be more assertive and setting boundaries.
Fast forward to an incident today, after we’d been getting on pretty well for a while. It sounds like a petty incident, but it’s got me down.
I asked if she wanted to meet up for dinner today, and she said she had something on, but could meet up late tonight. I said that was a bit too late for me, so suggested we meet up another evening instead. I was calm and polite the whole time, and tried to be helpful by offering meeting up another night as another option.
She then told me to fuck off, and then messaged me again, telling me I must be autistic (she has form for calling me autistic - it’s not new). This really hurt me. She has since blocked me by text.
I know she’s under stress at the moment with work and friendships (she’s told me this), but I really don’t think that’s any excuse.
Any ideas on how I can stay strong and resilient when this sort of thing happens again?
Thanks in advance.