It's Going to Get Worse⁠↗

Tiny little inconveniences and provocations are going to drive us crazy. Kierkegaard put in his diary once: “I can cheerfully struggle against a storm… , but the wind blowing a speck of dust into my eye can irritate me so much that I stamp my foot.” The smaller the affront, the more upset we get - because what we’re actually upset about is our inability to cope.

This is a dangerous place to be. It is not a good feeling to watch yourself fall apart from little little things. We feel jealous and resentful of all our friends who appear to be thriving. Paradoxically, we’ll feel just as resentful towards our other friends who are worse off than we are. We hate seeing ourselves struggle against tiny provocations, and grow jealous of our friends who need the most help. Their real struggles make ours feel insignificant and illegitimate, and our ego resents them for it.