I loved this. I think your last sentence summed it up well: "I'd rather live in dangerous freedom than peaceful slavery." Anything that is going to help us grow is going to be messy, strenuous, and frustrating. Productive use of negative emotions can help us be even stronger and better grounded.

I see what the author means in terms of not allowing negativity to overwhelm you (that does not have to happen at all) but I agree that negativity is not useless unless we become addicted to it.