Don't be Hasty

    

This is my second year working as a bus monitor. In that time I have seen several instances where people have lost control of there anger. Times when kids have become red in the face yelling and screaming for what appears to be nothing. 

    One time last year I was with a new driver who was driving a route neither me nor her had to much familiarity with. I was trying to give her the right directions, but I failed, and I led her down a dead end road. Now in a car or a truck that might not be a big deal. However we were in a large yellow bus and we were full of some of the wildest kids you can find. So to say that the bus driver was stressed would be an understatement. 

    She had to turn around and that meant backing up and pulling forward time and time again just to turn it around. Now to the bus drivers credit she kept her cool. However that can't be said for the old lady who came out of her house. You see as we started backing up we hit a few limbs from her tree and a couple of twigs were broken off. However this lady who was old enough to know better came out enraged and upset. We were polite and tried to explain the situation, but no amount of explanation or apologies was enough to pacify this elderly woman. You would have thought that we ran over her dog or her best friend. So that being said we choose not to stick around to long and we got out of there as quickly as we could. 

    There are many other stories that I could share when I seen people become unhinged and enraged. I am sure you can share your own horror stories as well. To be honest I can share some of my own stories when I have lost control and allowed my anger to get the best of me and I am sure you can say the same. 

    In those moments when I have lost control of my anger, I knew better than to act that way. I am sure that older lady knew that she should not have acted that way, or at least I hope she knew that. There are moments were as we look back on how we acted or what we had said we can be a bit embarrassed. Sometimes I cringe at the thought of something I said or did in the past when my emotions got the best of me.

    Many times we get anger over things that don't even matter. We get overheated and say things we should not say only for a couple of days latter forget why we got upset in the first place. We tend to lose perspective in those moments. We fail to show any kind of understanding or empathy. Many times we fail to take time to listen or to try to understand the situation for someone else's perspective. So often we jump to conclusions and arrive at certain positions based on limited information's. 

    King Solomon who the bible records as a great man of wisdom. Listen to what he has to say about this topic. 

Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry; for anger rests in the bosom of fools. - (Ecc 7:9)

    I must admit that there are moments when I am a fool. The way I have allowed my anger to get the best of me in the past, has been indeed foolish. When that elderly woman came out to the bus to express her displeasure both with the bus driver and myself. She indeed looked foolish, so much so that even those unruly kids shared how silly this lady was to be angry for a few broken twigs. In fact I am sure that if someone recorded you at your worst. When your face turned red, and your fists were balled up and you were doing and saying things in a fit of rage. I am sure that if you were to look at it a couple of day's later you would be a bit embarrassed by your own actions. I am sure you would find yourself behaving a bit foolish.

   This is why what Solomon says in that passage is so wonderful. He tells us to not be hasty to be angry. Don't be so quick to make split second decisions and decide how you should respond. Give yourself some time to listen. Allow enough time to gather all the information. Take some time to put yourself in the other persons shoes. Think about what you need to do to express your displeasure. Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions and rush to judgments. Allow yourself sometime to cool down and become level headed. 

    It has been in many of those moments that as I look back on it that I have failed to be patient and allow my self the time to process the situation and put it in the proper perspective. 

    I hope that the next time I come into a situation where my blood begins to boil, that I don't look foolish once again. I hope that I will take the advice of that wise King and to not be hasty in my anger. That is what I hope for you as well. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we would just be patient and not let our Anger to get the best of us?