A young lady was waiting for her flight in the boarding room of a big airport. As she would need to wait many hours, she decided to buy a book to spend her time. She also bought a packet of cookies. She sat down in an armchair, in the VIP room of the airport, to rest and read in peace.

Beside the armchair where the packet of cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started reading.

When she took out the first cookie, the man took one also. She felt irritated but said nothing. She just thought "What a nerve! If I was in the mood I would punch him for daring!"

For each cookie she took, the man took one too. This was infuriating her but she didn’t want to cause a scene.

When only one cookie remained, she thought, "Ah .. what this abusive man do now?"  Then, the man taking the last cookie divided it into half, giving her one half.

Ah, that was too much! In a huff, she took her book, her things and stormed to the boarding place.

When she sat down in her seat, inside the plane, she looked into her purse to take her eyeglasses, and, to her surprise, her packet of cookies was there, untouched, unopened! She felt so ashamed! She realized that she was wrong. She had forgotten that her cookies were kept in her purse.

The man had divided his cookies with her, without feeling angered or bitter…while she had been very angry, thinking that she was dividing her cookies with him. And now there was no chance for her to explain, nor to apologize.

There are four things that we cannot recover:

 The stone …after the throw!
The word….after it’s said!
    The occasion…after the loss!
The time…after it’s gone!

Never do something permanently stupid because you are temporarily upset! Never make a decision when you're angry. Never make a promise when you're happy.

By Tim Pedrosa


Holding onto anger is like holding onto a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you're the one who gets burned. Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten. ~Buddha

 

Tim