Even when we always treat others well, it hurts when they treat us badly in return. While it’s true that we shouldn’t expect good in return for our good deeds and should continue to treat others with kindness, it still feels unfair when others take advantage of our goodness and manipulate us in such situations.
Becoming jaded is easier, but makes certain joys inaccessible. Not that you were saying it’s better, just to clarify that it isn’t. Becoming cynical is something people do proactively when they cannot control their reactivity.
If you are able to control how you react, there’s no reason not to go into every situation ready for the best, just also ready for the worst and able to not let it ruin your day. And if you’re entering every situation like that, you might as well be kind for your own sake, so as to avoid cutting yourself off from potential positivity, while/since knowing that you don’t need to let the potential for the opposite affect you if it comes to pass.
All said, over-investing in kindness to the degree that you wear yourself down clearly doesn’t serve you, so all in balance.
Well said. Edit: I didn’t feel confident in claiming it’s easier and therefore weaker to do so by default; your clarification expresses the sentiment better.