In the world, people let you down. Even in this fictitious world, this does not make them an enemy. It makes them an ordinary person who shuffles life like a deck of cards. He means to deal one card but deals another. He bluffs, he makes excuses. He opens, he folds. One card is up his sleeve, another falls to the ground. He may not pick it up. He tries to escape one thing and runs into another. He is just like you, fumbling as he tries to do the best he knows at this moment with the cards he has in his hands.

You do not know what someone else's problems are. You do not know the extent nor depth of them. You do not know what is on their mind. You do not know what is occupying their mind more than you are. All you can know is that another is struggling, and some of his cards he tosses into the air, and lets them fall and he isn't good at picking them up.

You do not need to take offense at someone's frailty or even inadequacy. Stay or leave, but do not take offence. There is no profit in it.

Is it against the law for someone not to be as smart nor as caring as you? If that were the case, there would be many arrests. If that were the case, there are times when even you would be handcuffed.

The person who lets you down today may lift you up tomorrow. In any case, he has not committed a crime against you. He merely disappointed you. This has happened before. Must it be so crucial? Must every disappointment seem like a dreadful event, a cruel blow, an unprecedented affront, mercenary, ill-intentioned?

Sometimes you simply are not important to someone else. It is not important whether you are or not. You are important to Me. Be important to yourself and do not be ravaged by what another does or doesn't do. Your life is not dependent upon it. Your life is dependent upon you, and it is dependent upon Me. Anyone else is incidental, beloveds. The whole world is incidental.

Do not make of yourself a cause celebre. The ultimate purpose of your life isn't that you be treated well any more than it is that you always be served your favorite foods. The question to ask yourself isn't really: "Did the food burn?" The question is really: "How will I respond to the burning? How much energy do I use up and what do I gain? I don't have to eat burnt food. I can get up from the table and leave. The burnt food, however, was not something done to me. It was merely food overdone."

We come back again and again to your taking things personally. In truth, there is no person to take things personally. You are a universal being who is witness to life. You are not victim. You just happen to be around.

When you take things less personally, you can address them more effectively. Then you can say what you think. And the other party can perhaps hear you. If there is advantage in stamping your foot or raising your voice, it is a short-term advantage that will leave you holding nothing in your hand. Being upset is your choice, of course, but why would you choose it?

If your faith in another has been broken, this aggravation does not have to dictate your conduct in life. You do not need to show the other person he can't do that to you. Obviously, he has. Whether by intent or default, he did not rise to the occasion. But you will.

Do what you have to do, but do it without animosity. Rise and depart as one would depart if he knew how. Do not slam doors. Close them gently. And once behind you, forget about your chagrin. The sun is rising now.