And since, in our passage through this world, painful circumstances occur more frequently than pleasing ones, and since our sense of evil is, I fear, more acute than our sense of good, we become the victims of our feelings, unless we can in some degree command them.
Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1764
I invited comment on my latest effort at the bike trail and wasn't too happy with one of them. Our instinct is to react badly to dissent. We struggle to learn to esteem people who disagree with us. It is difficult. And I found myself "hurt" by the disapproval I found in the note. But there again, I invited the comments. There are many adages to retreat into that warn us that we can't expect any better. That we shouldn't take it personally. That we shouldn't assume a malicious intent... It isn't easy to do. By now, I should know better. This isn't that different from the day to day grind in the Retail Drug store. There were always those who didn't appreciate the effort being made on their behalf. It wasn't fast enough. It wasn't cheap enough. It led to a bitterness that persisted for years. I think my turtle shell has thinned to the point that I was easily injured by a well placed jibe. Shame on me.