Love is not Irritable.
Some quotes that jumped out at me from today's reading
If you are walking under the influence of love, you will be a joy, not a jerk. Ask yourself, "Am I a calming breeze or a storm waiting to happen?"
When love enters your heart, it calms you down and inspires you to quit focusing on yourself. It loosens your grasp and helps you let go of unnecessary things. Love will lead you to forgive instead of holding a grudge. To be grateful instead of greedy. To be content rather than rushing into more debt. Love encourages you to be happy when someone else succeeds rather than laying awake at night in envy. Love says "share the inheritance' rather than 'fight with your relatives.' It reminds you to prioritize your family rather than sacrifice them for a promotion at work. In each decision, love ultimately lowers your stress and helps you release the venom that can build up inside. It then sets up your heart to respond to your spouse with patience and encouragement rather than anger and exasperation.
Today's reading also talks about what factors cause stress and irritability. It talks about creating 'margin' in your life. Unstructured time to refresh, recharge and rest. The key, it says, to avoid being irritable is to reduce the amount of stress in your life and to learn to react from a calm rational perspective rather than from anger or frustration.
I've gotten better at learning to react from a calm perspective over the last year. Partly, because my stress has greatly reduced, and partly because my partner is one of the most peaceful and steady people I've ever met. He's taught me how to find the humor in tough situations and to be calm in situations that would have sent me into a major tizzy before. (For the most part.. but, give me a brek.. I'm a woman and have strong emotions.) There have been times when I start to react in 'old' habits of irritability and selfishness then I stop and a step back and look at the situation and think about my partner's perspective and personality, and that makes it easier to react in love and patience. I am SO blessed.
No comments:
Post a Comment