Today, I was sitting and thinking how we allow the smallest things to bother us, and we take on the stress of other people’s issues. I think it is safe to say we all have been guilty of doing this. There is so much we should let roll off of our back. Instead, we allow the nastiness of others to penetrate our being until we are all stressed and frustrated about something that was never ours to begin with. Do not take ownership for something that is not yours! When you do, your whole day will be ruined because most of the time we keep the incident on repeat inside of our head. I am sure you’ve experienced this before, trust me, I have too. As I am typing this, the words are boomeranging off of the page and hitting me as a reminder to self. This does not go for the boss you have to deal with everyday that is horrible…no! Get yourself out of that situation asap. I am talking about people we all come in contact with for a small amount of time each day.
I occasionally drive for an on-demand driving service for extra money -you know you have to keep at least one side hustle going in order to have multiple streams of income. I remember one of my riders, we will call him Joe, telling me about a cooking show he always watched until the chef pronounced the word herb in a way that bothered Joe. It bothered him so much, that he no longer could watch the show. I thought to myself, “how sad!” He gave up something he enjoyed; something that could have taught him a new cooking technique and delicious recipes all because of the pronunciation of a word???? There are many of his type out in the world that are judgmental and allow the littlest thing to bother them, then wonder why they have high blood pressure and acid reflux.
How many times has someone lashed out at us and we took it personally instead of thinking how they must be having a bad day or have some unresolved issues they are dealing with and just let it go? It does not mean the behavior is acceptable, just don’t internalize it, otherwise we let their drama and issues ruin our day. How many times have we used an innocent person for our target practice, jumping down their throat?
My granddaughter just started working at a fast food chain. One day while working the drive-through, she handed a female customer the soda she ordered. The lady yelled at my granddaughter telling her she could have filled the soda cup all the way. My granddaughter was not the one who filled the cup, another co-worker did, she was just taking the orders. Either way, my granddaughter nor her coworker deserved to experience this type of behavior…what a bad example! If the lady was dissatisfied with the level her beverage was at, she could have nicely asked if it could be filled closer to the top. She was so furious, she ended up spilling the soda all over her, the inside of her car, and then peeled out of the parking lot. Whatever originally had the lady’s panties in a bunch just got bigger because now she had sticky soda all over her and her car, not to mention she could have caused an accident the way she sped off out of the parking lot.
Things like this snowball all the time. It is causing health problems because we have not learned how to change our thinking, attitude and to manage our dilemmas. There is a saying from Alice and Wonderland that goes, the hurrier I go, the behinder I get. We rush around only to get things more messed up through our frantic frenzy. There should be a saying that says, the madder I am, the worser my day gets. This could very well be a saying, I have no idea, but you get my drift. The negative thoughts and attitude just create more of the like until it is totally out of control.
This lady could have possibly ruined my granddaughters day due to the way she snapped at her. It was uncalled for! You may be having a bad day, but you have no clue as to what the person you are snapping at is going through. The way you deal with someone could be the maker or breaker for them.
My granddaughter is young and she has a million life lessons to learn yet regarding how people act and the correct way to deal with situations. Heck, some adults have not mastered this yet which why I am writing this. I know it did not ruin her day, because as she was telling me the story about the soda flying everywhere, I could hear a sinister tone expressing how the lady got what she deserved!
Another one of my riders we will call Roxy, told me while she was driving the other day, a car behind her was riding her tail and clearly in a rush. Roxy did not want to start speeding past the limit just because the driver behind her was impatient. What happened next is terrible. Roxy said the driver was so furious, they went around her and did not see another car coming and BOOM! An accident! So, how far did they get in all their road rage??!! Possibly to the morgue while taking innocent people with them. It is ridiculous how we let our impatience, frustration and anger get to us so much that this can be the end result.
I give you these examples in hopes you learn not to let little things bother you that really don’t matter, do not waste your energy on other people’s negativity. Remember, you never know what someone else is going through, however, do not own and take on anyone else’s mess, or fall into the trap and cause your life to snowball out of control because of anger and frustration that is a result of others. Lastly, get your own anger in control or it could be a matter of life or death.
Don’t let people, places and things determine your moods. Take charge of how you want to feel each and every day. Michael Barbarulo
You can let your smile change people, but don’t let people change your smile. Unknown
