Distinction

I've noticed there is a fine line between assertive and aggressive, and that I can tell the difference.

A fine line is an unfair characterization- a line sounds dogmatic, as if there was a rule you could follow or a definition. I'm not referring to that, I'm talking about a little twinge somewhere in your chest cavity that bings something and you try to figure out what. There is a heartbeat between humor and self-deprecation, argument and attack, relaxation and procrastination, all sorts of such things. Without dogma, you can't run on automatic. If you get rid of dogma, you have to stay tuned at all times, to notice the exact twinge where the distinction is made.