A couple of weeks ago (June 23rd to be exact), I blogged the following:
Whatever that bad habit is in your life that needs tweaking, consider really beginning the process to extricate it and replace it with something better. Don’t wait until it’s convenient ~ and, by the way, where is that day named convenient anyway? ~ do it now.
Join me in making a little promise…. I’m going to begin today to change this automatic response that I, myself, introduced into my life long ago that has done nothing to make me a better person.
For those few of you who read my blog, I’ll share my goal and my progress along the way. It doesn’t even matter what the habit is that I’m going to break or what the habit is that I’m going to adopt; just know that I’m jumping in today and a little thing called life isn’t going to deter me or throw me off course. On your mark, get set…..GO.
I’m a huge fan of being accountable to someone ~ it keeps us focused and honest (unless we’re talking about a diet partner and we ALL lie to them about what we’re eating, don’t we?)…so I want to bring you up to speed on my progress. Back on 6/23, I decided I was no longer going to take personal offense or react in a negative way even when I feel entitled to react to situations that feel personal in nature. Notice that I was reacting on feelings a lot….that will result in bad decisions the majority of the time.
Feelings are temporary and, if you’re like me, they come and go with the wind. What might irritate me at 2:16pm won’t even get my attention at 2:21pm. So why would I rely on my feelings to direct me on a good reaction to a difficult situation? Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Here’s a good example. Recently. someone close to me lashed out pretty unfairly and the “old” me would have said some pretty nasty things and slammed the door on any possible reconciliation. The good ole “cut off your nose to spite to your face” routine which leaves both parties feeling miserable. Brilliant response, don’t you think?
Instead, I let the words pretty much roll off of me. Granted, I felt upset and distraught but didn’t allow that to control my responses. I removed myself from the situation and, sure enough, the situation worked itself out. Instead of two people over-reacting, there was only one. What a concept!!
So I’m tracking in the right direction. I’m trying to bring some peace into my inherent temper (thank you, Irish and German ancestry). My compass for this change? Proverbs 31:10-31. Among the many wonderful riches of this text, of which I’m so deliberately going to pursue, is this…
“She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.”