There are some people you can always rely upon to be unreliable. That is their most consistent trait. I have a cleaner who was due to arrive at 4pm. He has not come. I knew he would not come. So I made my plans accordingly. Eventually he will need the money and then he will go out of his way to meet a time that suits me.
I have a nephew whose own father walked out on him as a five year old. His mum eventually remarried. While he was growing up I was the go between for the boy and his father. We would plan to meet up on. say, Saturday afternoons and the boy would look forward to seeing his dad whom he loved dearly. Time and time again we would be waiting in the car for dad to rock up. He seldom did.
In the end we never told the lad that we were going out to possibly meet his dad; we would just go out and if dad rocked up, the boy would be overjoyed; if he didn’t he wouldn’t be disappointed because he never expected to see his dad. You could always rely upon him to be unreliable.
Now he is sixteen he is waiting for a call from his dad to come with him for a weekend in Adelaide, the fun capital of Australia where we would have a barbecue at my place.. That call should have come last week. I am about to bequeath to my nephew — my Polonius to his Laertes — the best advice I can give, : Never rely on another person for your happiness.
What do you think?
We must all take the responsibility for our own happiness. That’s one of the most important things I’ve learnt in life.
on this then we agree, Carolyn
I have a relative that does the same thing to my children and in the end, I had to pass some advice to them to cope with the constant disappointment. I agree with you, make your own happiness and don’t rely on others.
I’ve found this to be one of the indisputable truths in life; in the end we all arrive at this conclusion at some stage I would hope
To thine own self be true!
good post
Rob.
ahhh yes. that one. that Polonius sure had his head screwed on right
I used to think that.
But lately I have come to believe that you can rely on some people, who will support as much as they CAN.
However, in the end it’s a case of always “to thine own self be true,” I guess.
yes I guess there are a number you can rely on: they’re called ‘friends’
That’s excellent advice, and it works both ways. Never let anyone else depend completely on you for their happiness. Tagor or someone said something about “Let there be wind spaces in your togetherness.”
that is a wonderful quote, Nancy. I have copied it down. thanks. Don’t know much about Tagore. Indian, I think, as from India
poor boy. with age we learn that we should not be dependent on others for our happiness. its a great blessing if someone learns it early, i hope he will be one of them.
I have yet to tell him this. When I do I hope he receives it with an open mind