Skeptic

When people you value ignore things important to you, you begin to wonder how important you are to the people you think matter. You start to withdraw into your shell and you question the depth of others’ investment in your happiness, just as you begin to question the merit of your investment in theirs. When it reaches that point, you reach for the switch and you turn it off. As nakedly self-serving as it sounds, you cannot afford to invest your emotions in people who don’t reciprocate. Happiness is not a commodity readily available on the open market. It is a rare thing, requiring nurture and tenderness. You may think a quid pro quo is an ugly, commercial element unsuited to friendship. You may think it, but you’d be naive. We all want to be the personification of altruism, but we’re not suited to the task.