A few years ago, I was getting an antique delivered. We were all excited about it's arrival. The kids were small. When the driver pulled up, we all went to the door, only to hear a rather loud crashing sound. He had dropped the peice. This was probably 100 years old. I felt it, the brewing rage inside me. I was furious and my tone reflected that.
But something happened. I looked down at my kids and through some miraculous intervention, I stopping and in that instant I knew I had to decide who I was going to be. And I was able to stop it. Really, suddenly the anger was gone and the man was so humbled and he came back the next day and replaced the broken glass. There was a tiny nick in that peice, but it was worth everything that my kids could look at me and not see someone who frightened them, someone who told them to manage their feelings only to yell.... that nick didn't bother me at all. Not one bit.
Check out this video, its one of my favorites.
