As sad as it is, disappointment is an inevitable part of life. As long as you surround yourself with humans, who are made of flesh and bones, at some point, they’ll disappoint you. It is even more painful when you place your complete trust and hope in them. There are different ways disappointment manifests itself; we can be disappointed in ourselves, and on the other hand, it can come from close friends or family. We have all experienced it at some point or another. One of the most painful sources of disappointment is from friends who you tagged “family.” You have known them for a long time, but when the time comes for them to show their true colors, they surprise you with a 6-inch knife in your back.
When we put our trust, hope, and faith in others, we risk getting hurt. The truth is that life is interesting and not everyone is there for you or lives up to their promises. Of course, I still believe that there are good people out there who genuinely care about friends and relationships. People who think twice before making certain decisions or promises. Selfless people think about the gravity that their actions may cause before making it. However, these people are relatively few compared to those who may let us down. Today’s topic of the INLEO prompts asks us if we have been disappointed by someone. What did they do? How did we feel?
The problem arises when we put our complete trust, hope, and faith in others, expecting them to always support us and shelter us whenever needed. “Oh! This person is my friend, there is no way they’d hurt me. They’d always be there for me.” The problem arises when you make assumptions like this. We expect too much from people around us. We expect them to be there for us, just like we would for them. One important thing to take note of is that as long as the people around you are made of flesh and bones, they are not to be completely trusted, regardless of how long you have known them. Humans are just “humans”- they will inevitably disappoint us at one point.
Last year, I learnt my lessons the hard way. Years ago, I was skeptical about allowing anyone into my personal space. As long as you’re not my family member, you don’t even get a peek into my personal life. But at some point, I got tired of holding up the fences. I pulled them down and allowed everyone into my life. Just when I did, I got disappointed by people I placed my complete trust in. We had known each other since our childhood days. Interestingly, we attended the same high school. We graduated and got admission into the same university. After living with them for about two years, I decided to move out and get a place of my own. Surprisingly, I found out from multiple sources that when I moved out these “friends” started spreading awful rumors about me. The most painful part is that I did not see it coming. I felt that we had known each other for so long and that they wouldn’t do such a thing. I was wrong! I learnt better not to put my complete trust, hope, and faith in people.
However, this doesn’t mean that we should avoid human connections and isolate ourselves completely. The importance of people in our lives cannot be overlooked. It is important to tread carefully and not put our complete trust in people.
This is my entry to the INLEO prompt. The topic is; Have you ever been disappointed by someone? What did they do and how did you feel?
Thanks for reading.