Tips
for
Staying
Calm
佚名
/
Anonymous
I
watched
the
old
man’s
fumbling
fingers
as
he
slowly
counted
out
the
coins,
one
by
one.
I
was
all
but
dancing
with
impatience
in
the
checkout
line
and
sighed
with
exasperation.
Hearing
me,
he
smiled
apologetically-a
tiny
smile
of
humiliation
at
being
feeble
and
holding
up
the
world’s
business.
Then
I
became
contrite.
Putting
myself
in
his
shoes,
I
realized
that
someday
they
might
pinch
my
feet.
I
too,
could
become
dependent
on
the
kindness
of
strangers.
I
patted
his
frayed
sleeves.
“Take
your
time,”
I
said,
“there’s
no
hurry.”
It
occurred
to
me
how
often
I
had
acted
impatiently-honking
my
horn
the
instant
the
light
changed,
speaking
sharply
to
someone
slow
to
understand.
Did
it
matter?
It
did.
When
you’re
impatient,
you’re
apt
to
be
rude.
And
such
behavior
is
counter-productive,
making
people
angry
or
stubborn
or
uncooperative.
I
decided
to
try
becoming
more
patient
and
to
develop
various
approaches
for
calming
myself
in
stressful
situations.
I
can’t
claim
that
these
techniques
transformed
me
into
a
model
of
patience,
but
they
have
helped
me
eliminate
some
impatience
from
my
life
and
control
most
of
it.
A
friend
had
passed
the
interviews
for
an
important
new
job;
all
that
remained
was
for
the
president
of
the