Difficult
People
“When
spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except
where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was
people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no
limits. People were always the limits of happiness except for the
very few that were as good as spring itself.” Ernest Hemingway (A
Moveable Feast)
The
past few days have seen temperatures in the upper 60's, sunny and
warm. Jonquils and Japanese cherries are blooming and the buds are
swelling on dogwoods. Spring is such a welcome season after the
perseverance required by winter. One just wants to dawdle and be idle
and blessed. I look at the calendar and pray for empty days—not
that I will do anything great with them, but at least I won't have to
deal with people! Do you ever have that thought? “Thank God I won't
have to deal with HER today!”
Our
spirituality would be so much easier if we never had to deal with
difficult personalities, wouldn't it? We could walk around feeling
holy and blessed every minute of every day if only we didn't have to
put up with abrasive people, whose very presence rubs us the wrong
way. The Earth School is full of such challenges, and they are here
for a reason--to teach us the limits of our patience. For most
of us, that limit comes up fast. The mere sound of a voice can send a
zing up our spine and make our teeth grind. I'm speaking for myself,
of course. I'm sure you are more tolerant of difficult people than I.
You can see just how hard it is for me to maintain a spiritual
practice. I was not born sweet, like some, and I have to fight my way
toward acceptance of people who are not on my same page. Here's the
problem: the universe will keep dealing you the same card until you
learn how to play it right. If I go around with my hackles up
spoiling for a fight, I will find as many fights as necessary to learn
the lesson. The gods don't play fair—they will give you what you
need, not what you want. If I reject people because they are not a
carbon copy of me, then I will find myself alone, and not in a good
way. So my task is to take the day as it comes, and to allow my
attitude to adjust when nothing goes my way. I can get angry and make
matters worse, or I can accept the fact that other people, who are
different from me, who don't think or act like I do, have equal
right to be in and of this world. I can stand with Ernest Hemingway
and eliminate people who limit my happiness, or I can realize that my
happiness is no more important than theirs. Even spring does not
change that.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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