A Hard Lesson: People are just people (Philosopher's Stone)

What lesson have you learned the hard way? A long winding path almost always teaches us more than the short, straight one. Embrace the struggle.

Yes, I'm cynical. That's my nature.
And yet it took me most of a lifetime to learn this lesson. For the most part, the teachers have been pretty decent people -- some of them are even friends, Most of them I no longer keep in close contact with. Sometimes that's my choice. Sometimes it's theirs. 

If given the choice between doing what is right and what is best for themselves, generally speaking, people will always choose to do what is best for themselves.
Recognizing that has given me the freedom of not being let down by people. While it might appear that I am not a very trusting person, I believe that I am very trusting. I trust people to always look out for themselves even if it isn't always the right thing to do. 
Don't get me wrong -- I know there are people that sacrifice a lot of time and energy serving others and doing things that make the world better for all of us. They are certainly exceptional people and they are pretty rare.

Allowing people to be people may seem like a sad kind of existence, but really it's not. It reminds me of the line in The Eagle's song -- "...I know you won't let me down, 'cause I'm already standing on the ground."
In my world, you are free to be yourselves.
A few of you will always choose to be exceptional people.
Most of you are good, decent, and very likable people and I trust you to generally do the right thing in your eyes. Examining behaviors from the perspective of the person doing whatever action often leads to a better understanding of why they did it.
And some of you (far too many in my estimation) usually choose to be assholes -- and that's okay. You get to be you.

That's my hard lesson.
What's yours?

John