The idea for this post came to me while I was in the process of making a sandwich and I lost the bread bag tie. I do it all the time and it so bothers me. I tried to blame it on my color blindness… but regardless of how it happens I often lose track of that twisty thing. Someone ought to invent a way to not lose sight of it, appear on Shark Tank, and become rich.
There’s a seldom used 3 letter word today that pinpoints how I feel at that moment when I can’t find the bread tie, ‘Irk’. Remember using that?
What irks you on a regular basis? Is it waiting at ridiculously long red lights? I read that when added together, we spend an average of 6 months of our lives waiting for the light to turn green. Crazy!
How about having to watch a bunch of commercials while you’re enjoying a movie… the same ones over and over. Think about this, the average person spends close to 5 hours a day watching tv. A little over 15 minutes of each hour will be spent on commercials. That’s over an hour of ads per day. After all the calculations are made, we will spend something like 4 years of our lives watching ads. Disturbing!
The list of exasperating things can grow in a hurry: long texts or emails, a driver following too close to your car, a slow drive-thru (they call them ‘drive-thru’ for a reason, not ‘drive-stop’), someone walking in your direction and sneezing, loud people at a theater… and that is just a partial list.
People are easily annoyed today more than ever! Wise king Solomon wrote,
“A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.” Proverbs 25:28
Think about the above Scripture for a moment. Walls were built to keep the citizens of a city happy and at ease. Walls protected a city from dangerous invaders. But broken down walls left people unprotected, helpless, and vulnerable to serious trouble.
The idea is that whenever we let things, anything, ‘perturb’ us (that’s another old word) we are opening ourselves up to trouble, like a city with broken down walls. When we allow it, annoyances can leave us feeling like a mess.
So, what can we do? Well, for one, avoid what you know is going to get under your skin. I know by heart the traffic lights in town and seem to take forever to change colors. I avoid those roads at all cost. Whenever possible, stay away from what you know can mess up your day. And, if you don’t like commercials, set the show to record on DVR and watch it only when you can fast forward through the commercials.
Also, keep yourself in a positive frame of mind. Sometimes music can do that. A few days ago my emotional frame of mind was taking me downhill fast pass blah and heading towards where I shouldn’t be. So I put an old Hillsongs Live CD I had not listened to in a long time. Man, the lyrics and beat of those songs pulled me out of that dark hole I was falling into.
Text or call a positive people in your life. Some have the special ability of lifting others up.
Another idea is to work on not being in such a hurry all the time. When we get in a rush we get sloppy and sloppiness can result in making silly mistakes and silly mistakes tend to put us on edge and when we’re on edge we get easily annoyed. Slow down! Pay attention to what you’re doing.
One more thing, rather than trusting in your self control, trust in God’s control. Self control usually fails us. And when it works, it can only take us so far. On the other hand, the Lord in us overcomes all things and keeps us composed.
Can you add something to my list of irksome things? Please leave me a message and thanks for reading.
Just like you said, Jorge, excessively long traffic lights really bug me as well!
Also, drivers who, as far as I can tell, don’t know how to drive!
“Dude, depressing that long pedal on the floor with your foot will make your car go faster and reach the posted speed limit!”
I have sadly come to realize that I am not a patient driver, with very little tolerance for my fellow commuters!
However, sometimes when I’m stuck at one of those afore-mentioned long lights, I get this compulsion to just regroup and compose myself. You’ve heard of the expression: “count to ten”, right? Well, what I do is take ten very deep breaths, hold it in, then SLOWLY exhale. After about the third exhale, you can really feel your body starting to relax, kind of like your anxiety is just “melting” away!
You’re so right, my friend, this is God’s control rather than my self-control, because I know it’s Him who tells me to “take ten” when I’m behind the wheel!
Very well said, my friend!! Praying for you!!!