Loyalty

What drives people to give themselves completely to an institution, or an ideal, or a person? Loyalty is a funny thing because at core, people are selfish. Nonetheless, loyalty demands selflessness, and people often give it. There is usually a reason for loyalty. A person is loyal to their country because they love the land, and the laws, and the people. A person is loyal to a philosophy because they beleive in their hearts that it is right and should spread and live on. They are loyal to a person because that person has been loyal to them or they love them.

But then comes betrayal. What does a person do when the thing they have been loyal to turns on them. Their country shuns them. Their philosophy is proven wrong. Their friend or lover no longer reciprocates. How quickly should the change of heart come? Loyalty is worthless if it changes with the wind, yet there is a time to change loyalties. The time comes to admit one placed hope in a faulty place, or in a faulty person. The time to admit that perhaps they were wrong all along, or the time to admit that the rock they were anchored to wasn't as strong afterall.

There is a time to go move to a country that treats it's citizens better. A time to realize that sometimes the things you were taught in school or as a child by your parents just were incorrect. A time to realize that there is someone else out there who won't stab you in the back. A time to realize that being loyal to the things that are loyal to you is the best decision. It should not be thought of as wasted time or resources. It should be thought of as a learning experience through which, better choices will be made in the future.

The question still stands, When is the right time to forget the past and move on?