The clarity of denial

To be denied your planned desires provokes an overreaction.

We move through life assuming our accommodations, requests, and pleas will be met with reciprocity, or at least entertained. While this is a conceit, it is also a mainstay of civilization.

While being spurned smacks of petty boundary setting, if not outright malice, there is no justification for our rage as our mind spins up destructive scenarios: We are owed nothing and in turn owe them nothing.

Their boundary established the relationship: you are free from a relationship or politeness. For this clarity, we should thank them.