Years ago, I took a professional career class that lasted for many months. It was a class that required to share certain intimacies with the other students. For those months a bond had formed with all of us and on the last day of the class we shared our contact information. I also had invited everyone to a small gathering at my house in the near future. On the day of the planned gathering, no one showed. I bought food and drinks and set-up extra chairs, and it was all for nothing. I never heard back from any of them. Needless to say, I was very sad and took it personally. I wondered what was wrong with me because it had to be about me, right? The industry I was in was very small and everyone knew everyone. After being in the industry for a few years I realized I never ran into anyone from that class. I eventually went on to win several awards for my work. On reflecting about that class, I realized that from the beginning to the end, there was a huge drop-out rate. There was just a fraction of students left by the end. It apparently wasn’t for them. I think now that those few that stayed till end, were doing it to just to complete the class but probably weren’t interested in pursuing it further. It is possible they did not want to attend the gathering because they were done with that experience or they were embarrassed because they knew that class and career were not for them. I understand now that when you feel hurt by people, it’s possible you don’t know the whole picture. In fact, they may also be hurting as well. It is easy to make assumptions based on what we experience, but keep in mind there always is a bigger picture and other perspectives, and you may not know what they are.