( Don’t expect so much from people )

One of the most relieving things for the soul, and among the most effective in lightening the burden of disappointment, is to grasp a truth that when people draw close to you or gather around you, they are most often responding to a need within themselves, not necessarily to a value within you. And that need is not confined to the material, it may be a need for belonging, for status, for benefit, or simply for the feeling of proximity to something that gives off light.

And when you truly absorb this, not with eyes of condemnation but with eyes of understanding, you liberate yourself from the crushing weight of expectations that have long complicated your relationship with others. Because the logic then becomes clear: once the need is gone, so is the presence. Not necessarily out of betrayal, but simply because the motive that once brought them no longer exists.

This realization is not an invitation to isolation or to cynicism. It is an invitation to freedom from the illusion of unconditional relationships, and to a deeper appreciation of what is genuine among them, seen through eyes that are clearer, and far less bitter.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​