Abstinence From Arguments

Something about my nature makes it really hard to not get defensive when attacked.

Once I posted something on a message board that someone else mocked. The right response in my mind is no response at all. Unless it's a core moral principle in my life - and maybe not even then - I've found there to be nothing but loss paid by defensiveness. An ego is a heavy burden to bear, and all we have control over is to do our best. Throwing negativity around (defensiveness is a cousin) only births more negativity.

In this case, I didn't even do the old psychological trick of writing a pretend response and then deleting it (though admittedly some content crossed my mind).

I find that it takes less than a week for a temptingly "important" challenge like this to fade into the ether.