Part II: Joy Despite People: Principle #8: Stop Being a Grump

  Memory Verse: 

Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

Philippians 2:1-2

Journal
There are going to be things coming at you all day—things

you see, things you hear, things you touch, things you

smell, and things you taste. It can be from watching the

news, driving to work, participating in a conversation,

walking into a bathroom, sitting in a meeting, taking a

phone call, or even eating dinner. Information from your

senses will be sent to your thalamus. At that moment, you

have a quarter-second to decide either to give in to your

natural tendencies toward grumpiness or to pause and

evaluate what is really going on before you respond.

Today, take the most challenging situation you come across

and determine that you are not going to let it bring you

down. You are not going to allow it to make you grumpy or

talk behind someone’s back. You are not going to engage

in an argument that scars others—not today. Take control of

that quarter-second between urge and response.

At the end of the day, record your thoughts.

A quarter of a second---is a very short time to do the right thing.  But it happened.  My supervisor/boss made me upset via a work chat.  I wanted to so bad respond in a passive aggressive. I looked to my right---right there by my window is this and it helped.

I got this from a download by purchasing Margaret Feinburg's book: More Power to You.  I recited this for approx. 2 minutes - a little more than a quarter of a second, but it took a quarter of a second to realize that's what I needed to do and NOT respond.