I rarely do “Part 2” articles. I understand that most people read things like this, glean something from them (or not) and then move on. I am making it a point this year to focus more on understanding articles and books rather than the commitments of years past to “plow through” a lot of them. The application of a given topic is often heavy lifting, and with our perceived lack of time, we do not often make the time to really understand and apply the thing we just read (or heard or watched) to ourselves. Well, I’m trying to change that.
So last week I wrote an article that centered around some infuriating travel woes that I had. Late planes, poor customer service, and people all around frustrated and impatient.
The point of that article was less about the situations in and around the travel industry (which continue to be abundant) and more about my willingness to step back and see myself in those moments of frustration.
I had thought that the article that I wrote pointed to this quite clearly, yet much of the feedback I received from the article addressed the problem of the travel situations. A lot of well-intended people expressed empathy and solidarity with me in my travel woes and connected deeply with what it’s like to miss planes and deal with short-fused people. I’m truly thankful for people like this to empathize when I (or anyone else) am in difficult circumstances.
But, today, I am hoping to re-state the point of that article for the purpose of ensuring that I don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the knowledge I gained from that experience is simply over and I am done with it.
For the record, the point I was trying to make was how I was able to see myself in those situations. Could I feel frustration and anger welling up in me and still have the willingness to see and thus manage it more effectively than I have done in the past?
I give myself a B. I did OK in some situations and allowed myself to get hijacked in others. I am grateful for the room there is to grow.
Poor customer service, bad attitudes, flunky (“funky”+”flunk”=“flunky”) systems and apathetic people are all around us.
The question I will leave you with today is “how do YOU react in environments like this?” Can we all grow in our ability to see ourselves and interpret our emotions in the moment?
To continue to make strides with this is authentic human growth.
May we all be on that path.