A new era?

Well, it seems some decisions have been made for me over the last several months - decisions I didn't even know had to be made.
Do you remember BeatleJuice the cartoon? In one episode, the skeletons in his closet got out and started telling everyone the truth. Well, that's kind of what has happened over the last 1/2 year or so for me. The big difference, the is that I'm not ashamed of these skeletons. I mean, we all make mistakes - live and learn, right? Not for some, I guess....
The weird thing is that many of these things in my life that have recently come to light don't seem such big deals to me. But, both directly and indirectly I've come to realize that certain circumstances in my life, which weren't explicitly made known, but nor were they kept hidden, are not compatible with certain people I thought were friends.

"How could you do this to me?" is a common question I hear at such times. I respond with, "Do what to you?? You weren't even involved? You're so far removed from the circumstance, I don't understand why you'd even care - especially negatively." Now before you read this and think I'm talking about you specifically, I'm not. I am talking about so many instances of this exact conversation that I've had over the last 10 years or so. Why does it always have to be about you?
This is the biggest problem I have with all of this - some people take EVERYTHING so personally. I heard it said a few years ago that "people rarely do anything to others, they mostly do things for themselves." We need to pull our heads out of our asses and actually think about what is happening in other people's lives. Most of us are just trying to survive. We should try to realize this before we take offense - other people's actions are rarely directed at us; they're more often directed for themselves.
Am I saying this clearly? I'm not sure if I'm getting my point across... basically, I'm trying to say that we should try to "walk a mile in someone else's shoes" before we make judgments. Besides, who are we really to judge.

Anyway, enough of all this. I do want to say to those people I've offended, I do apologize. But, I also think you're full of crap if you choose to end a friendship over an innocent misunderstanding. That being said, I do totally forgive, and am more than happy to chat again. We all make mistakes - I'm no better or worse than the next guy (or girl for that matter).

Cheers all.