I love how, at times, a message can hit you right in the face like a brick.
I have friends who will call this a coincidence, while others say God was the thrower of the brick.
Yesterday morning, I had a weird incident when, as I was trying to pull into a McDonald’s, a car tried to back out of the first slot in the parking lot. I stopped thinking they would back out enough to then go forward through the lot to the exit. NOPE. They backed out in front of me all the way into a four-lane road, of which they couldn’t see the oncoming traffic because my vehicle was blocking their view. I held my hand up to signal for them to stop since cars were coming. The woman in the passenger seat, my age or older, just kept telling the driver to go. After almost getting hit, they were in a spot to go forward, and the woman flipped me off.
After they were gone, I realized that her actions had made me angry. I was trying to help, and that was their reaction. It pissed me off.
Two things came from this. I realized that often the person flipping off is someone doing something wrong, and someone trying to stop them. The second is that I got angry at her, and then I got angry at myself for getting angry.
All the way home, I prayed to be able not to let the actions of others control my emotions and day. On the way to town that afternoon, a person in front of us turned left when the left turn lane had a red arrow. This is something that would normally bother both my wife and me. However, she calmly stated, “At least no one got hurt.”
During our Mass last night, as part of the sermon, the priest told us how he had two funerals that day. He was rushing back from the cemetery of the first one when he got caught up in a traffic jam. While he and the others were all sitting and waiting, a car came up on the shoulder and zipped ahead of everyone. He mentioned how he had to take a moment and stop himself from getting angry. He prayed for internal calmness.
As someone who strives to follow their faith, I cannot call this a coincidence. I was being sent a message. Others will say the universe was talking to me. Either way – message received.
Work on not allowing the actions of others to control me.