Sometimes we make mistakes

We all screw up from time to time. We make bad judgments or draw wrong conclusions from the information presented to us and it ends up affecting us negatively. We're especially prone to do this in relationships because all we know for sure is one side of the story and that's our side. We hear what the other person says and we see what they do but we don't know how much of it is true. We just have to take their word and believe in them. And whenever you do that, you're sometimes setting yourself up for a fall.

We make lifetime decisions based on what someone else tells us combined with what we feel. If they tell us they're going to love us forever, then we believe it. If they tell us they'll go to their graves loving us, we believe it. If they tell us we're their one true love, we believe it and we plan out the rest of our lives based on that belief.

And then one day they take it back. They tell us they don't want to be with us anymore because they don't love us anymore. We remind them of all the things they said and all the promises they made and they respond by telling us that they meant them when they said them but they don't mean them anymore. And then they hang us out to dry.

If this happens to you, there's no way you can fight it. We don't have love detector machines. We don't know when we're being lied to and when we're being told the truth. We try to match behaviors with words but often times our emotions won't let us do that either because love is the most powerful emotion in the world. You don't see the world objectively and you sure don't see that special person in your life objectively when you're in love. You believe what they tell you. You put all your faith in them and depend on them to do what they've said they're going to do. You don't pay any attention to friends and family who perhaps have a different view of the relationship because they're not emotionally involved. You just listen to your heart because that's the only thing you feel you can depend on. And then that person you depended on more than anybody else and loved more than anybody else breaks your heart. And your world is shattered.

It's no wonder why the divorce rate is so high and why people who have had their hearts broken build fences around their hearts to keep other would be suitors out. As great as the love is that you feel for another person, the pain of rejection is more and many people choose not to take a chance again.

We make mistakes in politics too and many people made a mistake in supporting and voting for our President. We knew he didn't have the political experience to be President but he captured us with his rhetoric which was powerful and profound. We thought he would actually do the things he promised to do. Many of us didn't count on racism to raise its ugly head again and impact on everything the President did or said but it did. The Republican House has dug its heels in the sand and objected to every single thing sent to them by the President. And when the House gets its back up, the President backs down. He found that running for President and being President are two entirely different things. He was great at one, not so good at all at the other. Hillary would have been a much better choice because she's been involved in politics since she was a college student and at least has the experience. Many people see the current occupant of the White House as a failed president and can only hope for a better turn of events the next time around.

Politics and romance are, in fact, bedfellows. Someone who wants in our heart or in our life tells us what they think we want to hear and they hope we will believe them enough to commit to them, whether it's with our heart or with our vote. Sometimes we discover they were telling us the truth and we end up in long term relationship with them but sometimes just the opposite happens. And with politics, sometimes the people we elect do the things they promised to do or at least try to do them with every breath of energy and commitment they have but sometimes they don't.

And when they don't in either scenario, it's like Dean Martin used to sing:

"It's a real kick in the head."