Trying to keep the faith (Part 2)

[burned]

It just doesn't feel right.

And that's why people keep saying it's counterintuitive. It doesn't have to feel right in order for it to be the right thing to do.

As an outsider looking in, the texts/emails you described there don't give me the impression, at all, that you're actively pushing him away. They seem polite and sufficient, not hostile. You're not so cold as to ignore him completely when there's an issue that needs to be addressed. You probably feel like it's active rather than passive because it's so different from what you normally do, and the FEAR that he is moving further away leads you to misinterpret things.