Today, I received a nasty email -sent from one member- to an entire group of which I'm a part. I'm not too proud to admit that the email PISSED ME OFF when I first read it.
Has that ever happened to you? Someone's words slice into your happy day and leave you shocked, bleeding, and angry?
"What the he$* is
I stood up. Fumed around. Stomped around. Sat down and started to type a response.
Then I had this superpower flash. (Thank goodness.) I remembered that life is one big improv. For every offer (like that email) there are a zillion ways I can respond. In the privacy of my own home, responding to an email, I have the luxury of time. I have the breathing room to try out a bunch of different responses BEFORE the crazy-monkey-mad-fight-or-flight part of my brain feeds me nasty words and has me hit "reply all".
In this life-scene, the flame throwing email-writer WANTED to get a reaction -this person was writing the entire scene, instead of inviting participation! Not on my watch! From a place of calm, I was able to process it. I brainstormed a little which brought me to some realizations:
- This person has a pattern of aggressiveness via email.
- This person has a pattern of criticizing but not participating.
I succumbed! I gave
Only for a minute, though.
Then I laughed and deleted my response to the original email.
I did my best Billie-Burke-as-Glinda impersonation and said to the inflammatory email, "Be GONE. You have no power here," and deleted it.
I blocked the offer. I refused to play that scene.
With that choice I cannot re-read the email and get mad all over again.
With that choice I cut those words out of my life.
I reclaimed my super power.
I'm SO glad I didn't send that email I started.
Next time, I won't let it bother me at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment