At my weekly acupuncture treatment, I was attempting to get some mid-day rest and rejuvenation.
Then it happened. New York happened.
An angry gentleman paced the hallway outside my treatment door. Someone had charged $242 in Starbucks in small increments onto his credit card. He was clearly upset.
Then, I felt myself get upset.
“Who was this guy, raising his voice in a hallway where people are getting treated?”
I felt myself get wound up – which makes you very aware of the needles all over your body. As the needles kept me pinned to the table, I breathed in and tuned him out.
And then it hit me.
It was MY FAULT I let him bother me.
My anger was a reflection of my perception.
He was upset and not thinking about the world around him, just like I got upset – not thinking of the world around ME.
I didn’t suppress my anger. That would have been as equally unhealthy as me flying off the table to give the man a piece of my mind. And that is precisely what he would have received – a piece of me I couldn’t retrieve.
I acknowledged my anger, and I worked to transform it into sympathy for his situation.
It worked. I felt better. I WAS better, dealing with that the way I did.
To be a fiery redhead and a Libra – not to mention, a Dooley – I am predisposed to throw flames when things aren’t just.
However, predisposition does not equal certainty.
Like most things, the script was flipped with work.
Next time you get angry, remember you’re in the driver’s seat of where you take it.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley