Expect Resistance

"I would like to be someone with whom no one would be ashamed of any part of herself. I would like to be able to regard the actions of others without feeling threaten or becoming defensive, even when they are defensive of me-to see others in the context of their lives, not my own. I would like to know how to set the right limits on how far I trust others, so I never risk losing my respect for them

or my ability to trust. I would like to be able to look those adversaries who should be allies in the eyes and say "Like it or not, this is who I am. This is what the world has made of me and we must all live with the consequences. I can't change the decades of life behind that that have wrought this, only take responsibility for what I am and what I do. I don't want to compete with you for moral high ground or anything else. Unless you're prepared to kill everyone who doesn't live up to your standards or else to endure this impasse indefinitely, you're going to have to accept me on my own terms, as I hope to accept you. You are as responsible as I am for making what goes on between us positive for both.... or for the world of strife we will suffer in otherwise"