MMM (aka Malign)said:

"I actually think that this entry contains the true answer to your "To feel or not" entry, but it's not what you think (well, okay, it's not what you said you think). The way I look at it, that cat bite is the physical-world analog for your emotional-world question. You tried to do something good for someone (-thing); for some reason, they didn't understand and hurt you; and there really wasn't anything you could do about it except treat the wound and wait for it to heal and stop hurting so much. In particular, at no point was it possible to choose not to feel the pain.

Now, none of this says you have to enjoy the pain (that's an entirely different disorder ;-), but if you can accept it and keep doing good, think how much power that gives you.

Granted, there was and always is a choice whether to try to do good at all. However, 1) there's no guarantee that people won't hurt you even when you're _not_ trying to help, and 2) there's a huge price to pay in terms of who you are, if you decide to stop doing good.

I think you could look at it this way, instead: Yes, it hurt like hell, but that didn't last forever, and you may even have learned from it how to minimize the risk, without eliminating it entirely by not even trying.

Maybe I could be a preacher, or join the Optimists Club. ;-)"