This seems easy enough, to me. I buy a gallon of milk at the local store. They put it in a plastic bag. I take it home. Upon lifting the bag from my car, the bag rips and the milk carton falls to the ground, springing a leak. I end up transferring what remains of the milk into home containers and wash off the now-freezing spilt milk.
This is the sort of silly thing that happens all the time. Someone does something foolish (putting a gallon of milk into a weak plastic bag) and we suffer for their foolishness. Now, what?
I have had times when something like this would really set me off. There is something about such things that just make us so mad sometimes. Perhaps we were just a little on edge and this set us off the edge, or maybe we were just in a bad mood, or maybe we just don't handle things very well. For whatever reason, we overreact.
Today, I did not overreact. I just did what I had to do. I explained it to my wife when she came in so she knows why the milk is in plastic containers that belong to us, rather than in a store carton. We laughed about how our children will react to milk in a strange container.
But I could have overreacted. I could have gotten angry (I had cause, after all). I could have stormed back to the store to throw a fit. I could have been angry while pouring it up and while explaining it to my wife. I could have passed my anger to her. We could have both started our day with anger over what was, let's face it, a pretty foolish situation.
I can remember days when I have made bad decisions in these situations. Ultimately, we each live with the results we create, don't we? Why should I be angry over such a foolish thing?
As you walk today, be ready for the bag to break, the milk to drop, and the carton to break. Be ready for spilled milk. Be ready to accept that these things happen and that we have the choice of how to react.
"Crying over spilt milk" is the old phrase. We are told that there is no use in crying over spilt milk, but people do it every day.
So, for today, be ready for the milk being spilled. Laugh over the foolish things that happen. Build a home where a little milk problem does not become a big family problem.
This is the sort of silly thing that happens all the time. Someone does something foolish (putting a gallon of milk into a weak plastic bag) and we suffer for their foolishness. Now, what?
I have had times when something like this would really set me off. There is something about such things that just make us so mad sometimes. Perhaps we were just a little on edge and this set us off the edge, or maybe we were just in a bad mood, or maybe we just don't handle things very well. For whatever reason, we overreact.
Today, I did not overreact. I just did what I had to do. I explained it to my wife when she came in so she knows why the milk is in plastic containers that belong to us, rather than in a store carton. We laughed about how our children will react to milk in a strange container.
But I could have overreacted. I could have gotten angry (I had cause, after all). I could have stormed back to the store to throw a fit. I could have been angry while pouring it up and while explaining it to my wife. I could have passed my anger to her. We could have both started our day with anger over what was, let's face it, a pretty foolish situation.
I can remember days when I have made bad decisions in these situations. Ultimately, we each live with the results we create, don't we? Why should I be angry over such a foolish thing?
As you walk today, be ready for the bag to break, the milk to drop, and the carton to break. Be ready for spilled milk. Be ready to accept that these things happen and that we have the choice of how to react.
"Crying over spilt milk" is the old phrase. We are told that there is no use in crying over spilt milk, but people do it every day.
So, for today, be ready for the milk being spilled. Laugh over the foolish things that happen. Build a home where a little milk problem does not become a big family problem.
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