When I was young man I had a mentor who I asked why some people totally fail at keeping their word or commitments. His response was:

“The hard truth is that most people are going to let you down in life. Most people can hardly commit to their own word to themselves, nonetheless anyone else. Don’t expect too much of other people, or you’ll spend most of your life angry and upset at people who were always incapable of keeping their word. Focus on those who you notice always try to keep their word and live with integrity—they might let you down too, but they’ll at least own it.”

I think about this a lot, and now that I’ve accumulated more life experiences, it’s a hard truth that I’m only fully coming to understand now.