The Best Advice

                      The Best Advice 


I was thinking about some of the best advice anyone ever gave me; I'll get to that in a moment. 
As I sit here reconciling the darker parts of my human experience, it occurs to me why most people are so shocked by the things humans can do to one another. Everyone lies a little. Everyone manipulates a little. Everyone has at one time or another, taken something that did not belong to them. Many partners slip up and give in to temptation, cheating on their beloved. Yes, their beloved. 
That being said, I find it is not in average human nature to lie about everything. It's not in our nature to intentionally manipulate situations in our favor, with reckless abandon. It is not in our nature to present to the world a polished existence while behind closed doors, evil runs rampant. It is in our nature to abolish evil, to actually repair damage rather than perpetuate it, deceptively. 
When the average human witnesses this aforementioned negative behavior, we are shocked. It is in the reconciliation of said shock that we learn, and if having been a victim of said behavior, we begin to heal. Unfortunately, we tend to resurface with a hardened heart, but that is through no fault of our own; it's just a negative subsequence that goes along with the rest of the damage left in the wake of those who do harm with no concept of consequence. 
We want to shove that experience in a box and get past it, which brings me back to that eloquent advice, "You can't get past that type of grief, dear. You must get through it." 
Yes, we are the ones that have to fumble our way through their bullshit, but that just makes us stronger and wiser and eminently better than them. And we'll pass on the knowledge of them, so as to minimize their victim pool. And we will be blessed and rewarded and happy. So guess what? 
We win! 

-Deannalynn Arzola