“When someone tells you, ‘..you make me so angry,’ be sure to impress upon them that managing your own emotions is job enough and that you cannot assume responsibility for theirs.”  This was advice and wisdom from a psychiatrist assigned to teach yours truly and a room full of other medical students what we needed to know about human behavior.  He was making the radical and at first difficult to grasp point that how we feel emotionally is largely (not completely) a decision we make.  While most people might not have been raised with this knowledge or gift, in the absence of the most overwhelming circumstances, this approach could be acknowledged and learned, he maintained.

We all know people who fall into the deepest despair when encountering the most minor inconveniences.  We also all know people who when confronting loss or horrific circumstances, say things like, “it could be worse,” reflecting their decision (whether they know it or not) to compare their situation to that of someone likely worse off.