Our emotions are the fickle aspect of out short human existence. They override rational judgement and throw our minds into chaos, for good or ill. They make us feel love, hate, happiness, sorrow, satisfaction, and anger. Controlling those feelings is often one of the greatest tests in endurance that one can face.
How we react to a situation is a major test in character, especially in one with negative connotations. Those emotions throw is into more chaos and dig deeper into our emotional well being; as well as how others react to you. In the heat of the moment, there is almost no good way to burn them out, and they linger for the longest time.
However, there are times where they do need to be confronted with the offending party. It's not always a pleasant experience, and may not you the way you want, but it's better then letting it build you like an over inflated ballon.
I would say though that this often a two-fold circumstance. Whether or not you believe your words are offensive and that other person is over reacting, if behooves you to understand their side of it. Your reaction is just as important as theirs; and because this has often been over looked, we can find the seeds of much of human conflict.
I write, not just as a means off getting this discussion off my chest, but as an idea people should look closer at. Our reactions, without thought, have been the source of many of problems (though not all). And don't damn yourself for having a poor response to a situation, life is about learning, and not learning from our mistakes is the greatest failure of them all.
