I find myself consistently going back to check his blog. It’s interesting, easy to read, and enjoyable. I find the anger I once held slowly abating. With each post consumed, I find that I like this person more and more, that the parts I found annoying or infuriating or frustrating are mitigated by the inside view I am getting from reading his own words. That in the end, I do appreciate the way he has grown over the years and the other facets that have emerged from his personality.
His identity as my petty and spiteful adversary now takes a backseat to the rest of him. Only rarely in his blog posts do I see hints of the person that I disliked for so long. For the most part, and in many situations, he is not that person anymore. He is not so bad.
No matter how many times I am taught, I find that I am always learning that people are three dimensional. That conflict is complex. That being a jerk to me does not necessarily define that person.
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But I guess that’s the way it is. We don’t remember the hurt we inflict on others, but we always remember the hurt inflicted on us.