One of the things on my list of
Life Goals is to be
kind-hearted and sweet-spirited to everyone, even when circumstances are challenging.
I wonder: would you think less of me if I admitted that
doing so doesn't come naturally to me? That sometimes I have a tendency to be something that doesn't even
resemble kind-hearted and sweet-spirited?
It's true, and I hate to admit it.
I'm moody and grumpy. I'd like to blame this on genetics, because I do come from an entire family of moody, grumpy people. In fact, at work my dad's nickname was Grumpy. You know, like one of the
Seven Dwarfs. So, you see, it's
his fault I'm the way I am. Right?
I'm impatient. As much as I try not to be, some days impatience just gets the best of me.
Especially in the car. On the drive to work today, I called three different people a bad word (not a
really bad word, but not a nice one, either) because I was in a hurry and apparently, they didn't share my sense of urgency.
Not exactly the picture of sweetness and light, huh?
So you can imagine that being kind-hearted and sweet-spirited when circumstances are less than ideal is a
real challenge for me.
How about those times when extra work is dumped on my plate because a co-worker is out sick and there's a deadline to meet? Or when my husband is exceptionally grouchy after a hard day at work? Or when a store clerk is rude and unhelpful and short-tempered with me?
Yeah. In times like those, I wish I could say I'm long-suffering and sweet, biting my tongue and wearing a smile, but I'd be lying. In fact,
it takes all I've got not to snap back at the person on the other end.
We'll talk more in a future post about ways to be kind-hearted {even when it hurts}, but for now I have a question for you:
Friend, what sort of circumstances zap your kindness and sweet disposition? How do you respond? And are you sorry later, or do you try to justify your actions?
