I was listening to a lady talk about something she experienced. I’ll call this person Kathy. Kathy had gone into a drug store to fill her prescription. She walked up to the pharmacy to stand in the lineup. At the back of the lineup was a shopping cart with no one hanging onto it. Kathy asked a couple of people around the cart if the cart was theirs. They said no. Kathy moved the cart a bit and stood in line.
After a couple of minutes a person came up and tried nudging the cart up beside Kathy. Kathy apologized to the person for not knowing it was their cart. Kathy went on to say the person said some very rude comments like how obviously it was someone’s cart and she should have known. Kathy stepped behind that person and continued to be kind to that person as they moved through the line.
When you listen to others talk about their experiences do you ever notice you mind starts talking about how you would have done this or that? Your mind may be saying things like, ‘they shouldn’t have left their cart unattended or I would have given them a piece of my mind.’ You may even be saying, ‘I would have handled it like Kathy did.’ The mind can be a tricky thing especially when it comes to listening to someone else talk about what they did or didn’t do!
Kathy turned to me and asked me how I would have responded. I said I didn’t know because I wasn’t there.
Have you ever experienced something like that? Have you been in a place where you were just moving along in life and someone was ignorant or rude with you? How did you handle it?
It has been my experience when you are in compromising situations so many elements can affect how you will respond or react in any moment. Things like how you feel that day makes a difference; what you are going through that week influences what you do; the people you are interacting with can also determine the outcome of your experience.
There is no right or wrong way to answer that question. What matters is your awareness! Being aware of how you respond or react in any moment serves you greatly.
Every experience you have gives you the potential to learn something about yourself. There may be times where you notice you did something good when normally you would react negatively. That is a sign you are changing inside. When you look back on something you did or said and don’t feel good about it, what could you learn about yourself from that experience?
I thought when Kathy was being kind in those challenging moments she could walk away and feel good about her actions regardless of how the other person handled it. Interactions with people does make a difference in how you feel inside.
May you find what works for you…find your own truth…and you will always be guided to feel at peace inside.
Sheila Unique, Trainer & Speaker
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