Feelings produce some, if not the most, defining features we as humans possess. Feelings of affection lead us to prefer certain characteristics in others. Feelings of accomplishment drive us to particular goals but not all feelings are of the positive nature. Feelings of shame prevent us from voicing our thoughts. Feelings of uncertainty hinder the ability to take risks. Beyond all of aforementioned, there are two feelings that affect others emotionally and physically arguably more than most. The first being anger, a catalyst for strife and malevolence. The second being disgust, allowing the recipient's behavior or actions to be devalued, but worse than these two feelings are the people that inflict such thoughts. They use their words and efforts, like blades, to peel apart layers of confidence. (For the rest of the article, I will refer to these people as Havoks, for the distress they cause with their actions.)
The Havoks think they are entitled, maybe even called, to inform others of their faults. The receiver must understand that they have performed a grave misdeed, regardless of what happens afterward. Do they suffer from depression? Do they grovel in the pit of wrongdoing they are informed they are in? The Havoks do not care or even acknowledge they could cause that kind of pain. They have ruled and found the receiver deserving of discomfort and pain. What happens if the oppressed retaliate against the oppressor? They will only receive the same punishment in a heavier dosage, as though they are a sickness. A sickness that must be extinguished.
Is there anyone that deserves such a blind entitlement, especially one that can lead to such great consequences? I am not talking about punishment for crimes, which are most definitely deserved, nor am I speaking of any consequence that is anticipated for misconduct. What I am addressing is the idea, that one can become angry for selfish reasons or devalue others for being in disagreement. What does anger accomplish when invoked over the menial? What does disgust leave behind when applied over all differences? The answers are nothing and strife.
When one is surrounded by such violence, it damages you. You become accustomed to your person being attacked. You learn to hear and feel through a filter. A filter that sifts the words you hear and the feelings you feel. No longer can you laugh with your friends and forget the worries you carelessly joke about, without thinking of the inevitable mindless retaliation back to heavily filtered life. One cannot wake up with a renewed vigor for life when it will all be filtered to a point where one day feels much like the one before, filled with anger, encompassed by a wall of your own making. One that you make to prevent anything, any feeling, any one from entering with the ideology that nothing can make life better. That is the fate a Havok leads their victim too.
Being able to experience the full spectrum of feelings in life makes one able to see things for what they really are. If it is a cute girl, the spectrum allows one to feel excited. If it is a promotion at your job or internship, the spectrum gives yourself permission to embrace the new challenges. It is when your spectrum becomes dim shades of gray through the anguish of anger and disgust that your life folds itself into despair. A fold wrapped around you by those who have entitled themselves to hand out such sheets of hate and disregard.
Being able to separate yourself from such a toxic environment is not always possible and is what causes people to become callused. A warning and a hope is offered through such a trial. The warning is to both parties, if one can be given to the Havoks. To the Havok I would warn them that if they continue with this arrogance of entitlement, the damage will prevent others from living life outside of fear. To the victim, I would say that the experience will leave marks on you that change you and only after you can remove the filter will life become brighter. A hope is offered to both parties as well. A hope, to Havoks, that they can still change for the better and to the victim that they will be who they want to be and not what someone else says they are.
