the last laugh

Is it bad to be correct, at another's expense?

In my life, it happens so often that I'm immune to it. It's not about being deliberately correct but more of having intuition and foresight.

Besides paper qualifications, I have done many semesters at the School of Hard Knocks. It's about constant learning and having the need to get ahead without mincing another person in the process.

This morning, I received an interesting sms message, from a girl I came to know when she was a rule-breaking teen. She left her home to go the wrong way but have repented and her parents have taken her back. I'm happy for her, because she just needed to learn things the hard way. I told her that this morning.

Some people just need that 'break' from doing the correct thing for a bit, before coming back and living out their lives as contributing people.
BUT there are others who are vindictive and will always be abusers of others.

See, when we break away because we need to, for growth and hard lessons, it's okay.
But when, in the course of doing that, we resort to lies and deceit, then it's never going to be okay, ever.

We cannot assume that after trying to ruin another person's life, that that same person would welcome us without hesitation. That may happen in novels but in real life, I don't think anyone would volunteer to be a sitting duck for another to take pot-shots at. We all have too much at stake.

It's not about being selfish because it's a personailty flaw, but more because we learn well.
I'm having the last laugh now, but only because I like to look back on the years and smile, not cry.