Where has goodness gone?

Birthday is this week. Another year older, but am I any wiser?
It would seem not. I'm still making the same mistakes, still winding up in the same situations. Still feeling the same nagging sense of discontent and displacement.

You come to those crossroads every so often, those times where everything seems to be going wrong and you are forced to re-evaluate everything (and everyone) you thought you knew.

There are people I thought were close to me that have disappeared.
There are people that I've allowed to be close to me against all better judgement.
There are people who treat me like a child.
There are people who act like children.
"Ah look at all the lovely people."
Good relationships are built on a foundation of trust and mutual respect, and I haven't been feeling much of that lately. Not a fun realization to come to.

I love and respect my friends to a fault, but perhaps I need to be more careful about who I let into my life.
I'm notorious for my naive optimism and general love and generosity towards most everyone - but instead of receiving good karma in return I've only wound up feeling used and abandoned.

I'm deciding here and now that 22 is the year I wise up.
It's about time.