Sometimes in life there occurs a small revelation. I have been trying to control my anger with tailgaters.
I swore out loud when they trailered me on the highway
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I said to myself: stop swearing at them. So I did.
The swearing rang even louder, silently in my mind. This made me even angrier.
I realized that swearing out loud was an outlet for my anger. What to do?
An old Apple slogan danced into my head: “THINK DIFFERENT.”
[requisite tech reference for a tech bLog]
What if I thought different? Instead of anger, forgiveness.
The next tailgater to come along, I thought: I feel sorry that this driver doesn’t realize how dangerous tailgating is. This thought still had a tenor of anger.
The next, more forgiving thought was: She is in a hurry… late for an appointment.
This thought felt good.
I said aloud, “She is late and under pressure.”
I thought, I can help her by pulling over to let her go by.
I pulled over at my first opportunity.
She screamed past me and sped away.
What just happened? I thought.
I had no tension. There was no indigestion. No anger.
It didn’t even slow down my trip.
Ten minutes later i pulled up behind my tailgater who was stuck behind a line of slow moving cars.
I did not say, “It serves you right!”. I thought, she’s going to be late after all. I empathized with her. It is a situation I have been in myself.
I felt good, thankful for a small revelation.
