A Paradox

It's funny that sometimes you get angry about a situation only after the fact. You'd think the anger would come first, then the desire to get out, then the getting out. Instead, there have been a couple of situations in my life where it didn't kick in until months later. I wondered at first if it was 'false' anger - figured if I had a genuine reason to feel aggrieved, I would have felt that way earlier. But now I think there is a kind of self-preservation instinct that blocks aggression when you're in the thick of things. Acting upset then just draws fire from the aggressors. It's only later, when you're extricated, that you have the emotional distance to react, in safety.