Dear calisister:

True everyone has issues, of course. When distressed, most people become aggressive in one form or another, relieving their distress at the expense of another. In other words, aggression is common. But it is not necessary: it is possible for a person to have issues and not act aggressively toward another. Because of how common aggression is, it takes awareness and being selective as to what people you choose to have in your life.

Regarding you wondering if you will be okay with an aggressive person if you change your reaction to the person- lots and lots of people try to do that a lot of the time, to … not care, to not feel… to take it from one person and lash out at someone else, to meditate and have empathy for the aggressive person and so on.

It doesn’t work. People don’t do well with aggression, can’t incorporate aggression into your life and be okay with it.

anita