Today’s Mantra is about patience, something I have had very little of for most of my life. So on my journey to acquire more patience, I have discovered a little trick that has helped immensely.
I used to just tell myself to give everything 24 hours to think about before reacting. But then I heard this quote put so succinctly and it stuck with me! WAIT to COMPLAIN!
When something happened that upset me, I used to immediately react emotionally. But I realized a few things wrong with this:
1.) 9 times out of 10, a logical explanation presented itself to me after a day or so. AFTER I had already created unnecessary drama for myself and possibly others.
2.) Just the TIME factor really gave me the ability to think logically about what happened and a better way to respond. Or simply to realize that no response was necessary.
EXAMPLE: You hear that there is a job opening in your company that you would be perfect for, and instead of them asking you to interview for it, they already picked someone else with less experience. You freak out, go to your boss’ office, and yell and cry about how unfair it is. Then your boss proceeds to tell you that you didn’t get the offer because you are being offered a better job at an even higher level than you expected. BOOM.
So you gave yourself high blood pressure and made yourself look pretty stupid in front of your boss for NADA.
EXAMPLE: Your friend tells a group of people something embarrassing that happened to you and everyone laughs.
Option A: You fire back, humiliating her publicly and she leaves in tears. Friendship in trouble.
Option B: You wait until the next day , call her and tell her that what happened embarrassed you and ask respectfully to not do that again. She apologizes profusely, not realizing you were upset. Friendship A-OK.
So basically it is really about RESPONDING vs. REACTING. Facts vs. Emotions. Waiting to complain means either you will realize there was nothing to complain about, or you will be able to complain without making yourself look like an idiot or hurting someone else. WIN WIN!
So hurry up and wait!
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