Have you ever had one of those moments when you got mad and hit your limit, crossed over the line, completely lost it?
Maybe you were having a discussion that turned unexpectedly into an argument, maybe somebody made a remark and you suddenly felt defensive. Maybe some passive-aggressive person just managed to push your buttons.
In any case, the result is the same — blowing one’s stack, flipping one’s lid, going postal. In the calm reflection of hindsight, we usually wish we had not had such an extreme reaction, whatever the provocation. Of course by then it is too late.
In some sense such reactions are a result of losing one’s psychic balance. Your emotional center has suddenly been yanked in some unexpected direction, and you find yourself flailing, the niceties of civilized discourse abandoned as you grab wildly at anything you can in your struggle to regain control.
This sounds a lot like losing your physical balance, doesn’t it? Hmm. More tomorrow.