THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT

When you come across something that makes you angry or frustrated, you tend to react immediately and express your displeasure in the most direct way possible. You may confront the person responsible, raise your voice and point an accusing finger.

A Tao practice to try in such a situation is to put off the confrontation for a while. Things probably won’t change, so there is no need to rush. Make a conscious decision to take action on the matter later, and work on something else for the time being.

When you come back to the issue later on, you will notice that your emotional intensity is a small fraction of what it was before, even though your perspective is still the same. The anger or frustration no longer dominates your thoughts. You now have the proper mind-set to handle the issue in a calmer manner that will be far more effective and yield much better results.

The Tao Today

Make this a habit so that whenever you feel anger or frustration, you automatically defer it for later processing. If you have difficulty doing so, simply take yourself our of the situation. Put a little distance between yourself and the source of your aggravation. This will make you more aware of the mistakes most people make in the heat of the moment, thus avoiding the same mistakes yourself.

The Tao of Joy Every Day

~ Derek Lin