42: What do you do when individuals (eg, friends) in your life do not follow through on their word?

This is a difficult question in detail but not in concept. The first way this should be approached is asking your self, “What should individuals in my life do if I don’t follow through on my word?” I’m not saying that you don’t follow your word because, as someone that does follow their word, I know that it is possible. I also know that it is unfortunately, not that common. So then, the next question to self is, “What should God/the Universe do to me when I don’t keep my word?” The primary thing to do is to make sure that all three of these questions have only one answer. I said that I keep my word but I haven’t been without fault, especially when it comes to keeping my word with my self. I can’t tell you how to deal with someone else in reaction to them doing ‘wrong’ because I myself ask for forgiveness. In order to get forgiveness you must be willing to give it. What you should do is forgive them. Even if you consider your self next to perfect, you had to get to that point through evolution of your energy. In a past life you were the person learning what it is to keep one’s word. That’s why in this life, it’s important to you, so don’t be harsh on others.

There is of course another side to this. To me, in life we hear two types of stories, ones that affect us, and ones that don’t. When a friend doesn’t keep their word or is dishonest about something, it tends to hurt us, but it’s easier to forgive them, if it doesn’t affect us directly. When it does affect us we should forgive all the same but we may have to modify our dealings with that person. One way to minimize these types of problems is to not expect things of other people. Communicate what is required and what the outcome will be if the requirement isn’t met. That goes for all every day dealings with others! An expectation is like a hope, hope is the fear of the opposite we hope for. Removing expectations from others is a daily practice, and it can be painful but in the end, it is well worth it. Let me digress, please note this example; you may have a friend that you loan $10 to. The friend doesn’t pay you back. Later they ask for $100. What do you do? My solution to this is that you only give money. Instead of lending $10 you give it away. If the person says they will pay you back, you allow them to. When they ask for $100 (or any amount for that matter) you simply ask yourself if you can afford to give away $100. Of course there are situations in life that will require you to ‘trust’. Just make sure you do without reservation and make sure that your not expecting them to keep it, your knowing they will do their best to. If you find your self in situations where the person you need to trust is not doing what you require as proof of their best, out of love for your self, you should distance your self from situations where the person in question’s word effects your life. Again, you can only do this, if you your self, are trying your best! The more you fine tune yourself the greater difference there will be between you and society. This is a reality and you will ‘feel’ it, there are times you may feel lonely. Just remember that you are actually moving closer to the nature of God/the Universe and in that way you are moving closer to the essence of us all. The people who don’t understand this are the ones to be concerned for. In summary, forgive them but do confront them. Let them know how their actions affected you so that you can begin a dialogue to prevent future occurrences. If we all continue to lead by example, and do our best to keep our word, we can influences everyone to do their best too!