I’ve learned in the last few days that defending people you’re not tied to in some direct way is a losing gambit. I’ve been angry with people in the past for not defending me in various online fights after I defended them. I was angry because I thought we were on the same side. I thought they were my friends so why weren’t they coming to my defense? It turns out those people were playing the game the right way, it was me who was mistaken.
I’ve also learned that valuable lessons can come from just about any direction, any source. I’ve had some revelations over the last week driven by conversations with someone I have never gotten along with, someone in fact who was on the other side of some of those online fights I mentioned above. You can always learn, if your mind is open, even from those you thought never had anything to teach you.