On Living With Life's Annoying Little Lessons

Annoying Little Lessons

Recently I’ve felt that I’m becoming too crabby; too quick to become annoyed by people or events beyond my control. I’ve found myself griping about these people or events to others, and afterwards, I always feel like a big jerk.

Did Lucy Van Pelt from Peanuts have this problem? Or was she happy being crabby?

A friend even smacked my arm awhile back and said, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!”

And it hurt! My arm and my feelings. Mostly my arm. But I deserved her censure. I was annoying her.

Another friend often says, “You can think anything you like; just don’t say it out loud!”

I had already decided to try and practice this excellent advice before attending church one Sunday. What’s the good of complaining if you end up feeling worse after you do it, or if it just earns the disapproval of your friends?

Then, as so often happens, the sermon in church seemed to be aimed right between my eyes. Father talked about how people we find annoying can sometimes, “. . . ruin our Heaven on Earth,” simply by being there.

He suggested that when we run into someone who threatens to get on our nerves or put a damper on our day, or even to throw a serious wrench into our long term plans, instead of becoming annoyed with them we should look at the situation as an opportunity.

“When crosses come your way,” Father said, “say, ‘OK, God, here’s an opportunity for me to pursue Grace.’”

Maybe those people we find annoying are really in need of some understanding. Maybe with a little understanding, they’d become less annoying.

Or maybe they’re just idiots, but it won’t do us any good to let them rile us up.

(I refuse to entertain the possibility that I'm the annoying one, and they're all just putting up with me! Perish the thought!)

So that very afternoon I chided myself not to let a couple of perennial irritants get under my skin. I’m not going to tell you that I suddenly found that I liked these people, but frankly, those around me don’t want to listen to me complain all the time, so I have to realize that if I don’t stop griping about these people, I’ll be added to the “annoying persons” lists of people I actually like and respect! Horrible thought!

And at the day’s end, I felt a tiny bit better for having taken the high road. It didn’t even give me blisters.

Maybe this kind of personal growth is part of God’s plan for me. I could do with fewer such lessons, from my point of view. But no doubt learning self-control will come in handy in the future.

Even if it is a little annoying right now.

Oh! Back to the drawing board!