Thursday, January 03, 2019

Disillusionment

One of the worst feelings in the world is disappointment. When expectations meet reality and are found wanting, it's a real spirit breaker. Even worse, though, is when someone else is disappointed in you.

Think about someone you respect, maybe a parent or mentor, that you let down in some way. Remember how that felt? It's way worse than when someone lets you down.

If you've ever felt that way, you're normal. Nobody with any self-respect will want to let someone down. You're motivated to not disappoint people. That's how normal people are wired.

Not everyone is wired that way, though. There are those who enjoy disappointing people. Something is askew with their circuitry. Still, they're simple enough to identify and avoid to not typically be a problem.

Then, there are the self-deluded ones. Those are the folks causing the most damage. They've somehow convinced themselves they're not doing anything wrong. Like the criminal with no remorse until caught, even when they know they've done wrong, these types feel that if no one knows, no one will get hurt.

Those types are far too common. Government is full of 'em. Prison is full of 'em; Cemeteries are full of 'em.