One of my dearest cyber friends i''ve known for over 15 yrs and met on the same site where i met
@OneEyedDiva, Eons. Extremely intelligent but also compassionate man. Despite our external differences we first bonded over shared values instilled by fathers who emphasized learning and thinking rationally.
He had a saying i adopted because it was how i've lived my life: 'Just because life isn't fair, doesn't mean we can't be fair to each other.' If more people took that to heart, life in general might become more fair. However, i learned early, thanks to my Dad that my thoughts, words and deeds are what i can control-- not anyone else's. Seemingly, i've influenced my children to take similar attitudes while striving to be fair to others.
The way i dealt with the fact that my life could and has been repeatedly changed in a moment by the unfair/unkind/assaultive words/deeds of others
is by not letting that change my values or behaviors. I choose to pay more attention to, to be grateful to those (especially when complete strangers) who have been fair/kind/helpful to me and to pay it forward every chance i get.
But let me be clear, while i prefer peaceful resolutions to difficulties i know for a fact i am capable of being forceful, violent even (tho i could count on my thumbs the times that was was necessary, that firm words weren't enough to back a bully down) in defense of myself or someone else who is particularly vulnerable (children, animals).
Oh, and as for making sense if it all---i don't try to do that anymore. I enjoy noticing the many patterns, some that hold from macrocosm to microcosm ('as above, so below') but i also know that our brains often impose interpretations, assign meanings to those patterns that may not be 'true'.
Understanding the dynamics of how light makes a rainbow or the celestial mechanics of the night sky is not necessary to enjoy the beauty (awe, wonder) of either. It is interesting to know those things, but not required for them to give us a pleasure in just witnessing/experiencing them. Ironically, i've often found such things easier to understand than the behavior of human beings. Often i grasp the psycho/social explanation s intellectually while finding them incomprehensible emotionally.