I guess there always should be a point to which you trust... Even your best frieds can betray you when it comes to something big or maybe not so big - say, just money... It's life... I think the best way to live is to try to avoid such situations where you have to test your friends. It's another one of those lies... No, not lies. There is a better term for it in law - wilful blindness :) I prefer not to know what my friends would behave like when it comes to certain points of conflict. It is better not to have those conflicts at all and stay wilfully blind believing that friends will always be friends...

self-made, I like the term you offered. That's what most of us (if not all) do throughout our whole lives - stay wilfully blind. Why not? It's convenient. But there are times when you have to face the music, and they are far from pleasant. I don't have friends, I have very few good acquaintances and I'm absolutely fine with that. And I do my best to not put my closest people in situations where the "friendship" could be tested, because at the least, those situations are uncomfortable for both parties. Nevertheless we still are human(once again) and we do let our guards down from time to time...so let be it. We are not given anything that we cannot get through...and this shall pass...
P.S. I'm very excited for your trip to NYC. Undoubtfully, you'll be having a grand time. Cannot wait for the posts with pictures. :)

This gets back to what I tried to say in my other comment. It takes a lifetime to learn to be fully human. As the joke goes... We are all "a work in progress." But let's keep trying. Who knows maybe someday we will become enlightened!! Thanks for making us think!!! :)))

" I would love to reach that point of being when you truly genuinely care for others and just do good things without feeling rewarded financially or emotionally. Is it even possible?" - That's what we call a real christian love. Too many people say it's aviliable only for god...

...that's the saddest point. Though the Christ told us to love (at least truly try to love) each other like he did when he was a human, still most people believe it's not possible. That's why the desperation is a sin!... We should always believe, even if all around betray us - we should personally give them example of real love, faithfullness and forgiveness. Or how can we ask from people not to be selfish if we are selfish in our own hearts? 8) I absolutely agree with your friends' commens here - we must try; the work in our souls should always be in progress, indeed. There are no limits were we can stop developing our ability to love...

Я_и_еще_раз_Я, oh definitely...I understand all that and am trying to follow the path to the better self. It's just as I've mentioned in a previous post, that sometimes current emotions cloud over our consciousness and the whole picture gets distorted out of proportions. And even people who claim to be blissfully enlightened by Jesus Christ have vengeance hidden deep inside them. No matter how much we try to better our souls, we still make mistakes, because we are humans and there are so many temptations and distractions. But yes, we should do our best to stay on the right path to spirituality.