A comment yesterday suggested that ‘People who do ____ are hurting.’

Which is often true.

Not always.

Sometimes they are just assholes.

Sometimes they are both.

Sometimes they are hurting or assholes or both with an agenda. Sometimes it’s just a random lashing out.

Here’s the thing: When someone is hurting, I do my best to be compassionate. It doesn’t come naturally to me, but I’m working on it and getting better every day.

However, when someone is just an asshole, I rarely care about compassion. I might still be civil. Again, that’s something I’m working on. Often, though, I don’t even worry about that.

Because, you see, my natural state is to be an asshole. To lack empathy. To even enjoy tearing people down in a competition of words. And when I see someone behaving this way (regardless of the reason) towards me or towards others, sometimes my own demons take over my brain and come out to play.

After all, who can resist a handmade glue-glittered invitation like that?

And when I’m an asshole, I deserve what I get when I get stomped.

And, frankly, so do they.

Because feeling hurt does not mean you have to be a mean-spirited asshole.