Someone pulled out in front of me while I was driving my kids to school this morning. I mean like I had to slam on brakes to miss them. “Blow your horn!” my teenager said. I didn’t. I wanted to, but I didn’t. There was a time when I would have. I mean, the nerve of someone to pull out in front of me. How dare they! Didn’t they know I had children in the car with me? (They probably didn’t.) Didn’t they think about the consequences? There could have been an accident. Were they trying to kill me? (They probably weren’t.)
They most likely weren’t giving me or my kids a second thought. Their thoughtless act most likely had nothing to do with me. It had to do with their own self-focus. Huh? What I’m saying is, I believe that the vast majority of times when someone cuts me off in traffic or is rude to me at Wal-Mart, it is not personal. They aren’t being rude to me; they are just being rude. You are probably agreeing with me at this point. It’s perfectly logical. Right? But, here’s the catch.
If I know that people who act rudely are doing so because of their own issues not mine, why should I give up my peace and get angry? I mean if I’m driving along in my car, minding my own business, singing along with the radio (oh yeah, I’m that girl :)) and someone cuts me off and makes me slam on brakes, should I give up my happy, give into anger, give them the finger and be angry the rest of the day? If someone steals the parking spot at the mall that I was patiently waiting for with my blinker on, should I take it as a personal insult, seethe inside and ruin my trip? I say no. Happiness is a choice and anger is too.
I believe that the key here is to be less focused on myself. I need to remember to let the person who has offended me own their act and they can keep the negativity that comes from it. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 to “Always be joyful.” If I get angry over inconsequential acts, then I am choosing to let someone steal my joy. Why would I want to do that? When we are walking around angry all of the time, we can’t let our light shine.
I’m working hard on this concept. I like to be treated the way I treat others and it sometimes just doesn’t work out that way. Still, I think holding on to joy is worth the struggle. Light is always better than dark. There seem to be a lot of angry people out there right now and the world is awfully dark. Let’s hold onto our personal peace and joy and not give into anger without a fight. Are you with me? How do you do with anger?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy
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