Lots of things on my mind today...

"Life imposes things on you that you can't control, but you still have the choice of how you're going to live through this," Celine Dion

I read this quote the other day and it made me stop and think....

Yes, I have choices on how I react to situations or decisions made by other people.

Yesterday in Dollar Tree I saw a man that I think I recognized from a picture. The man in the picture is a known sex offender. The man at Dollar Tree came up to me and asked me if I was in line. At this point the ball was in my court. Should I scream at him (assuming he was the man in the photo)? Ignore him? I could have. Instead I spoke to him nicely, "Yes, but you have less than I do. Get in line ahead of me." He looked at me like I had snot hanging out of my nose or something just as startling. (shrug) Be nice to all of God's creatures, right?

Driving home, I saw a man and a woman pushing their stalled car along the busy street. I turned around to help them, but by the time the traffic allowed me back, they were already pulled off into a parking lot. Glad they made it safely. I've been in that situation before and thank goodness for the kind guys who stopped and helped me push.

Today, as I was leaving the bank, I held the door for a woman coming in. Unfortunately, the two guys behind me almost tromped the poor woman. They did say sorry, but they were not paying attention to what they were doing. They almost backed over me as I was leaving the parking lot. My decision? GET OUT OF THEIR WAY.

A lot of people were out today, returning Christmas gifts and taking advantage of sales. And most everyone was in a hurry. Several times I let people have the right away, even though it was my turn. Better to lose my turn than be run over.

At the show Arsenic and Old Lace, I almost bumped into a woman with hot coffee. Instead of saying, "Excuse me" or something like that to let me know she was there, she snapped, "Watch what you're DOING!"

Wow.

I apologized, said excuse me, then stood there letting those words sink in.

Another Magenta person saw the whole thing, leaned over to me and asked, "Why couldn't she watch what SHE was doing, too?"

Because it's easier to lay the responsibility and blame at someone else's feet. That was her decision. (shrug)