Picking up a few items in the supermarket should have been a relatively simple matter. Today it was not. In fact, planning the invasion of Normandy paled in comparison. A careless shopper, intent on rushing through the aisles, bumped her shopping cart into mine. This collision knocked me into a stacked display of canned goods,causing them to scatter in every direction. Caught off-balance,I slipped and landed on a well-padded portion of my anatomy. Gazing up, I saw a number of people rushing toward me to see if I needed help. More embarrassed than injured, I picked myself up and walked on as if nothing had happened.I half smiled at the curious onlookers, but inside me was a boiling cauldron.
Finally, at the check-out counter, I felt that I was in safe territory. But even there, I encountered problems. One of the items in my shopping cart did not have a price code. As a result,the entire line was held up while someone was dispatched to confirm the actual price. Meanwhile, other impatient customers were glaring at me as if I was solely responsible for their delay. At last, someone found the correct price and I checked out. With a final effort to remain calm, I made my way back to my car, only to discover that in my haste I had locked the keys inside.
By this time I'd lost all desire to remain calm and controlled. A bumper sticker on the next car summarized my exact feelings. It said, ?Patience, my ass . . . I want to kill somebody.? Placing my bag of groceries on the hood of the car, I wanted to scream in frustration. I had a spare key,but it was at home. There's got to be a better way,I reasoned. And then it struck me. I had been reacting to all the aggravating events of the day. All I needed to do was to respond in a more enlightened manner. I had forgotten my resolve to change my perceptions and deal with problems on a different level.
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Weeks had passed since I'd last seen Gideon. I hardly had time to miss him, and besides, I knew that he would soon turn up again.For the moment I was busy employing my new insights. Many were the times during this period when I reasoned that I was going to change my world and myself once and for all. But just as many times, I fell by the wayside. Either I was distracted by events that appeared to be overly important or just simply gave up after an initial outburst of enthusiasm.
The secret,it seems, is persistence ? the ability to stick with tasks and see them through despite obstacles. It is also necessary to be kind to oneself. I knew that sooner or later I would encounter a problem that would give me an excellent opportunity to practice what I'd learned from Gideon. I was becoming tired of reacting to circumstances instead of responding to them,a subtle but important distinction. React and you are a slave to events and circumstances. Respond and you are the master.
It wasn't too long before the opportunity arrived. As a rule, it's not the big tests that brings us the most aggravation. It is the accumulation of many small annoyances added together that, most times, make life miserable. This day, I must have issued an order for all the petty irritations of the universe to report to me for duty. It must have been done at a subconscious level, because I felt it would take a certified idiot to consciously desire such a thing.
In any event, I needed to go to the supermarket. Even with the aid of lists and proper planning I found myself visiting the supermarket much more often than necessary. As I pulled into the parking lot, an old pick-up truck
raced ahead and claimed the one vacant spot that I'd staked out as mine. Nevertheless, I settled for another spot and parked. I got out, locked the car door and began walking toward the supermarket entrance. A sudden honking and the sound of squealing tires made me jump out of the way of a car that was moving much too fast. To say the least, by this time I was slightly agitated.
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John Harricharan has sinced written about articles on various topics from Web Development, Religion and Web Development. Lecturer, entrepreneur and MBA business consultant, John Harricharan is the author of the award-winning book, "When You Can Walk on Water, Take the Boat."