By: Hettie Basil Lighttower
How is your day going? I hope it is going well, and things are running smoothly as planned. But seriously how often does this usually happen?? The best laid plans can fall to pieces in a split second.
Have you had days where you are trying to go out the door and it’s just one more thing and one more thing? This happens especially if pets or children are a part of your household. What do you do? How do you react?
Unfortunately, too many folks react with anger when things don’t go as planned or when things become inconvenient. And most likely each of us would probably react differently according to the day, how it was going already, what the thing was that went wrong, how we are feeling and so on. We just can’t say that a response would be certain and always the same.
But when things really go off track and we miss a plane, a bus or an interview…. what if there was a divine intervention happening on our behalf? What if we avoided an accident, our own death, or something scary and tragic? If this has happened to you; would you even know how you were spared? Not necessarily. Most likely not, how could we? It would be a tragedy in itself to have spent so much time in anger or in a tantrum about your failed plans if something so spectacular as divine intervention had taken place unbeknownst to you in your favor.
Don’t waste your time on anger, resentment and tantrums. They will not change the circumstances. They actual can ruin your day further and cause more discontentment for you. You may even miss a great opportunity because of it. But instead go through the disappointment with grace and in belief that a great service hidden to your consciousness has been performed on your behalf. And then give thanks for the event or circumstance. You see, there is always a higher purpose. It may be for your direct benefit or for someone else’s and without your healthy, mature, proper response to it, it will fail. How would you know if that is the case or not? You may never know. Sometimes we get lucky and learn things later that show us how we were protected or how the event helped someone else.
Maybe a child is in your presence and your response to the bad day is a test for the benefit of the child and a teaching moment that may play a pivotal point in their life. It could be a test for you as to whether or not you will set a positive, healthy and spiritually sound example or one that causes grief and discord and negativity.
Did you know that being angry is a choice? It may not feel like it immediately in some circumstances, but it truly is a choice. There are ways to navigate your own feelings and be an observer of your reactions. One way do this is to be cognizant of how we see others respond to our spewing or spouting off. Or perhaps we see them bracing themselves for a blow up and you respond unexpectedly calmer than normal. You see them relax and engage in conversation with us instead of going silent or leaving the room. Paying attention to how others react and respond to us is great way to “know how we are doing” with our reactions and behaviors. Do people come a little closer, or do they stop making eye contact?
Self reflection and self evaluation is a form of spiritual and emotional maturity. It is also a sign of great accountability. We are never too old to reflect on the reflection of ourself as we see it in others. And knowing that we are not in control of all the plans we make, keep sight of the fact that a higher power has our back and lessons might be revealed at a later date.
Don’t spend your time in anger, lashing out and tantrums or pouting. They don’t solve anything. Those things just make things worse, even your very own health. Hormones and chemicals released from our brain during times of at-length anger will destroy our physical bodies. Stay in gratitude and grace this Thanksgiving week.
Send in your notions and comments to [email protected]. I will include them in the next available column as per their arrival relative to the publication deadline of Tuesday by 12 p.m. of the same week. If you wish to be anonymous let me know. Kindness is contagious~*