Seemingly Selfish

I've experienced it: loving, showing affection, giving, though not done in order to be reciprocated, not being returned. I've wondered: why did I open up to begin with, put myself out there, offer an expression of my heart as I did? Did I truly have alterior motives? Was I really being loving if I expected it back? The answers to these questions have led me to conclude that I am selfish. But that is a one-sided answer.

There is a feeling in non-reciprocation, one none of us wants to have. Sure, there's a degree of wanting our needs met, our desires satisfied. But the rub of it is when we care, and we are not necessarily cared for in return. We have no trouble giving of ourselves... because we are not selfish. We are wanting to give to others because we care. However, it is because we care that we begin to care if they care for us. Love, aftection, friendship, all desire mutuality. Human nature expects it, longs for it. We don't care to be cared for by stangers in a WalMart. We want to be wanted by people we want in our lives.