Signs that your tinsel is starting to tangle…
…That pit in your stomach begins to grow right after you press send on an email, thinking that you accidentally sent it to the wrong person.
…Furor spreads across the back of your shoulders, creating a tension that has you working hard not to clench your fists after someone makes a false accusation against you
…You want to curl up into a ball and disappear when someone makes a backhanded insult. The sting is not softened by the fact that the insult is disguised as a joke.
Everyone’s tinsel tangles. Everyone’s.
Even the most chill people you know. Even the most positive people you know. Their tinsel gets into a tangle.
The difference is what we do after our tinsel tangles.
You are so mad that steam is about to explode out of your ears. Do you write that nasty email and press send before you can think twice?
You are frustrated and overwhelmed. Do you snap at everyone you see?
Your feelings are deeply hurt by someone you love. Do you try to make yourself feel better by insulting someone else?
Or.
Do you seek out a trusted friend for empathy and advice?
Do you distract yourself with a good book and then go to bed, knowing that things will likely seem better in the morning?
Do you make a mental list of the things you are grateful for and focus on the good rather than the bad?
Do you belly laugh with someone who needs it just as much as you do?
Do you turn on your favorite music, sing at the top of your lungs, and dance?
Your tinsel will tangle. So will mine. That does not define your character.
Our character is defined by what we do after our tinsel tangles.
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
-Charles R. Swindoll
Image source HERE
