Arrogant adolescent with a boneheaded view of their own uniqueness, own importance, own superiority? You know, kind of like the teenager smoking a cigarette, convinced of just how brilliantly cool he is...
Or...
Adult who can plow through the self-denial and resist the urge toward selfish self-preservation to face himself and others honestly in a way that makes a good life with real intimacy possible?
I can't imagine you would be here if you were shooting for the first. If you want us to tell you that the first is the way to go, it isn't going to happen. And, if you want to pretend that it isn't your choice to make, play pretend all you want. It still remains that it is, in fact, your choice.
