Rejection, though--it could make the loss of someone you weren't even that crazy about feel gut wrenching and world ending.

It was one of those times you feel a sense of loss, even though you didn't have something in the first place. I guess that's what disappointment is- a sense of loss for something you never had.

often enough, we owe our good fortune to someone else’s loss.

Control was just wishful thinking, and you controlled things to hedge your bets, to be safe, to guard against loss.