The thing that crushed you at 15 is a funny story at 25. Time is a great comedy writer.

Pain has a scale that depends on how much of your world the event took up at the time. At fifteen one humiliation is most of your visible life, and ten years later it is a small scene in a much bigger film, which is why it can eventually be told with a laugh. Nothing about it was small then; distance is what changed.

When something feels total right now, try asking how much room it will take up in five years. Not to dismiss it, only to loosen the grip slightly. The feeling is real, and the size of it will change.