Sometimes you can damage a relationship so badly that it can't be fixed. I've written before about how anger and communication don't go together, and especially anger and writing or emailing. But betrayals of trust can be just as damaging.
We all learned growing up that if you apologize for what you did wrong, the other person is supposed to say that it's okay, and forgive you for it. As children, this is true. Of course, as children, things that require an apology usually involve an infraction involving sharing, or maybe an accidental collision.
As we get older, and relationships get more complicated, there are more and more ways that you can hurt someone. And as these increase, so do the chances that you can hurt someone so badly that you cannot apologize it away. Even if you feel that what you did should be forgiven, it may not be. Or, the other person may forgive you, and you move forward with your relationship, but the relationship will never be what it was before.
Trust is a powerful thing. It can take years to build it up, and only seconds to destroy it. Don't ever forget this. If you betray someone's trust, your relationship with them may never be the same. Even if you do it thinking that you're doing the right thing, or thinking that you're helping somehow, a betrayal of trust can never be undone.
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