It's ironic how a lot of the time we make effort, we're nicer, we're sparkier, we spend more time with the people who aren't so close to us because if we don't we'll lose them; but those who are nearest and dearest to us we slack off and don't feel the need to put in so much effort because we know they're always there.
If you think about it, taking people for granted, it's quite a warped albeit practical line of thinking; something we do so often, it rarely occurs to us anymore.

If those around us love us so much and they mean so much to us, then why is it we do the things we do to them?
And if those in the circles beyond them don't love us as much and don't mean that much to us, then why is it we do the things we do for them?
It's almost as though we feel the need to search and satisfy our inherent human greediness, to surround ourselves with extended blankets of security, because we're never happy with what we have.
As for those nearest and dearest to us, they love us and accept us and, subconsciously we know that they'll forgive us no matter what so we don't feel the need to be our best selves but often bare our worst sides to the ones who love us the most.

I don't think I can safely say that anyone, even myself, is above this almost cruel notion of love because we all do it, just in various aspects.
Some do it to family, some do it to friends, some families do it to you, some friends do it to you.
And we begin searching for acceptance, for relief, for fun, for something more, but yet we find that at the end of the day it tires us out, it breaks us and we don't find the acceptance we're looking for.

It's funny because why are we constantly searching and trying to find various forms of acceptance in various places when the right and fullness of love and acceptance was there all along?
I guess we just don't appreciate it enough.