Tell me your life story.

[Reincarnate]

mi40: If you've had a relatively good upbringing, it's going to be hard for you to understand or empathize with those who've had legitimately bad childhoods. This is because you can't do much more than project your own experiences onto others even though it's all invalid extrapolation (you literally just did this, too).

To be bitter is to be mired in perpetual agony, jealousy, pessimism, and cynicism -- to constantly dwell on things and allow them to taint your worldview even when it's not rational to do so. You can acknowledge that your childhood was horrible without being bitter. Many problems can be solved with ample discussion and lots of parsing/contextualizing, which is what good therapy can accomplish.

"Either make amends to his family or completely cut them out" -- this is only half right. When you have parents like Dossar's, it's oftentimes not possible to make amends. Some people are toxic to the core and cannot be reasoned with. Most people don't understand this. At the end of the day, most people feel some kind of attachment to their parents. Even through all the disagreements, you're all still on the same side and see utility in repairing burned bridges. For toxic families, this is counterproductive, and such malignant individuals are not acting in your best interest. The best way to deal with these people is to cut them out completely.

"Proactive indifference" is just a veiled way to say "get over it," which is useless advice. No shit -- it'd be great if it were that simple. Execution is a million times harder than simply stating an idealized goal. Here's a secret pathway to becoming a billionaire, don't tell anyone: Invent commercial flying hover-car technology. You're welcome.