Use It or Lose It.
Three situations arise from feeling as if you have nothing, absolutely nothing, left to lose in this world:
1. Extroverted anger – projection; could be as innocuous as harassing the one blamed for the predicament, but also sometimes results in violently bad decisions (murder, mass shootings); usually explosive and sudden.
2. Introverted anger – depression; may result mere self-sabotage of a job, relationship(s), etc., or self-harm such as cutting, but sometimes also results in a violently bad decision (murder-suicide or plain old suicide); can take years or decades to reach full effect.
3. Motivational anger – using rage to improve a life situation; justifications range from “Living well is the best revenge” to “I’ll show them – I’ll show everyone!” to “If I end up in jail or check out of this life, THEY win, and I will NOT let that happen;” closely associated with the ability to let go and move on; may take a moment, a month, or a lifetime to accomplish.
I don’t have to express which of the above is a better strategy. Turning pain, anger, and hate into something useful is always the best path, though it’s certainly not the easiest. Worse, the way is only made more difficult by the amount of personal accountability required. Only the strongest survive.
But trust me, there is nothing like looking into the eyes of a hater years after-the-fact. Nothing in the world.
Schadenfreude, FTW.