Compassion, Put to the Test

The first reaction is to have a first reaction. Indignation smells like a birthright. A quest for answers and some semblance of logic is quickly cued up.

 

But this, instead, is the time to breathe. First in, and out. Repeat.

 

My capacity was tested today. Tonight I vacillate between wanting to lash out, and feeling led to utter gentle, silent prayers. At this moment I see the dark side of organizational life and human nature in general, but I know the brightness of the morning will eventually win out—as it always does for this glass-half-full kind of guy.

 

I celebrate that I can pause in the midst of the emotional maelstrom and yield to some perspective. The big mind lords over the small mind. The ounce of rhetorical venom that seeped into my veins today is really just a teardrop, quickly overwhelmed in an ocean of vast possibilities.