Yesterday I had an email tiff with a co-worker over a silly little misunderstanding. Back and forth we went and boy, did we create quite the colorful thread. After a while when things had calmed down I called him and said "Wapedza kuita hasha here" (Are you done with your anger now?), and we just laughed about it. And funny enough he pointed out an email to me and said, "you know you could've ended this earlier had you just called me and asked what was wrong." Of course he still accepts no blame for the entire situation but that's besides the point. We're just fine, things back to normal, but a valuable lesson picked up.
Upon reflecting i realised by myself, if i had taken two minutes just to breathe, just to even read other emails while i process the situation or even just to stare at the screen and do nothing, then more than likely that tiff would not have occurred. It dawned on me that where i normally prefer to take time to think before i act on something, impulse exerted it's influence over me and boom! Just like that there was a situation to deal with.
We are not all meant to be reflective men, patient men, stop-and-think kind of men. But even where impulsive reaction defines your character, at the very least being conscious of it and it's potential pitfalls can be a good start. A lot of things you find yourself in because of impulsive decisions are mostly easily avoidable. An aunt of mine always says "Be careful, the things you say when you are angry are the best things you will ever regret." I've never quite understood it, semantically, but I just take away the broad idea. Myself, I always say, "When you lose your cool, you lose a lot more." Breathe, count to ten in your head, think before you say what you say, if you don't have anything to say then don't say anything. Curb your impulse.
Upon reflecting i realised by myself, if i had taken two minutes just to breathe, just to even read other emails while i process the situation or even just to stare at the screen and do nothing, then more than likely that tiff would not have occurred. It dawned on me that where i normally prefer to take time to think before i act on something, impulse exerted it's influence over me and boom! Just like that there was a situation to deal with.
We are not all meant to be reflective men, patient men, stop-and-think kind of men. But even where impulsive reaction defines your character, at the very least being conscious of it and it's potential pitfalls can be a good start. A lot of things you find yourself in because of impulsive decisions are mostly easily avoidable. An aunt of mine always says "Be careful, the things you say when you are angry are the best things you will ever regret." I've never quite understood it, semantically, but I just take away the broad idea. Myself, I always say, "When you lose your cool, you lose a lot more." Breathe, count to ten in your head, think before you say what you say, if you don't have anything to say then don't say anything. Curb your impulse.
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