Ladies and gentlemen, can i ask you a question? who really suffers when you get angry? You are there boiling, restless – your blood pressure rising, meanwhile the person who offended has moved on eating their food, living their life, sleeping peacefully, and sometimes even enjoying sex with their partner and you? probably still there, turning red like palm oil on fire.
Ah who is really suffering?…You or the person that offended you? Let me tell you what happened to me.
I was in the middle of Yaounde in a terrible traffic one afternoon. The sun was hot and cars were crawling while motor bikes were flying like they had wings. I stood there in the traffic exhausted and frustrated, just looking for a little outlet. Then I saw a small opening while i struggled to maneuver my steering…..VROOM, a taxi driver with the confidence of an action movie star jumped in and stole my spot.
Before i could even blink my eyes he rolled down his window and threw a slang and said in French ”Enleve ton rechaud en petrole la en route” In English it means remove that kerosene cooker of yours off the road.
I was shocked,did i hear him well? Did he just call my car a RAV 4 Latest version a kerosene cooker? What a disrespect….and audacity? in public? I felt my blood pressure rising. I held my steering very tightly as if i was going to redesign it. A hundred insults came into my mind, should i insult him back or block he’s car and give him the insult of his life……
While i sat there a steaming in anger, a thought hit me. This man has already gone, he has moved on with his day probably whistling and looking for the next passenger or his next victim while i sat there, boiling in my own anger like a pot of soup left on the fire for too long.
Then I asked myself, who is really suffering? Me, still fuming? or the driver who had long forgotten about me. That very moment i made a life changing decision. I will never allow someone’s words or actions control my emotions again.
How many times do we let other peoples words ruin our entire day? How often do we let someone else’s attitude steal our peace? Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. The truth is they don’t care, so why should we suffer?
Next time someone provokes you, Pause and take a breath, ask yourself is this worth my peace of mind? Instead of reacting, smile, let it go and keep moving forward just like the taxi driver but do so in a more dignifying way because my friends, life is too short to let taxi drivers of the world, steal your joy.
Your peace is more important.