Look Beyond the Anger

Last Saturday, the phone rang at 5:30 am and woke me up. The caller asked, " Is this the Smith* household where Mike* works for a local Kohl's store?" "No, I said," and hung up. Although we were the Smith household, and my husband's name is Mike, he doesn't work at a Kohl's store. I was so mad I was woken up that early for a wrong number. But as I rolled over in bed, I thought to myself I wonder if something happened to this Mike and they were trying to reach his family. I was no longer mad, but wondering if everything was okay. It reminded me to take a deep breath and not get angry for the little things.

These thoughts continued as I read an article in a Ladies Home Journal of a women who challenged herself to be polite to everyone, even if they were rude to her. As she waited in line at her local post office, she saw the post office employee snap at the customer in front of her. When it was her turn, she greeted the employee with a hello and asked how her day was. She noticed the pictures of her dog pinned up in her work area and asked her about them. The employee smiled and told her the rescue story of her dogs. She continued these acts of politeness throughout the day - when her mechanic told her that her car would be ready in an hour and it wasn't, instead of blowing up she told him how sorry she was that he was so busy and having a bad day. The mechanic hesitated and told her he'd have her car ready in just another 20 minutes, compared to a couple hours. She began to think the politeness was contagious and it made her day better!

Which then lead me to one of today's comics, "One Big Happy". Stuck in a huge traffic jam, the father was angry for being stuck in traffic after seeing two ambulances. His daughter in the back seat told her father not to be mad and remembered what her grandma told her to do when this happened. She prayed. "Dear God, please help the hurt people who need the ambulances. They might be somebody's mommy or daddy or little kid or best friend. And even if it's somebody no one loves, I know you love them and please let them know that I love them too. Amen." It certainly calmed her father down and he told her thank you.

Let's all remember to take a deep breathe and enjoy the beautiful day!

*names changed to protect identity.