the older, the wiser?

i'd like to think that as i get older, i get wiser and know better what to expect out of relationships and life. what i don't realize sometimes is that as i get older and wiser, life and relationships get more complex and challenging (maybe they shouldn't...) and then the question becomes not only how i should best deal with it all, it's also what i'm willing to invest in these situations. as adults, we are more critical and have a lower tolerance for things and people than we did as kids, and we are more suspicious of people's motivations than we ever were as kids. but if all adults believed that, how would we get anywhere? (i suppose that's how things like war and divorces happen...)

maybe that's just a result of learning from your experiences as you get older. maybe it's just about getting more jaded as you experience more sadness, pain and disappointment throughout your life and become more guarded to prevent you from feeling those things again.

it's almost too bad, because it would seem that we should be the better for having these experiences, right? either way, i think i still have a lot to learn about relationships - what i want out of them, how to deal with them, what is considered having too high of expectations and what is considered compromising too much of myself - it's a fine line, a fine line...