I tend to want to fix things and people. I never carried any children to term, losing them at about 8 weeks. I’m not sure if that’s why I tend to mother everyone along the way. I’m also a big sister to a little brother and little sister (never mind that they are now in their 60s). So I’ve always tried to help people.
My biggest problem lately is trying to help people mend their attitudes. Most of my own spiritual progress these past few years has been in attitude. The right attitude makes everything easier to bear in this “valley of tears.”
However, most people do not want me to fix them (LOL). I need to learn to back off a little and say a prayer instead of opening my mouth and offering suggestions. What works for me now, and what worked for me in the past, might not work for them. My actions should speak for themselves. If I am at peace, if I can hold myself back from butting in, then hopefully that will spill over into other lives.
Today I opened my mouth too far and a loud verbal argument erupted. It didn’t need to. Nothing I could say would have changed the situation or the person’s attitude, so we get back, once again, to AA’s famous Serenity Prayer. If I can’t change it, I have to accept it.
Nobody can stop me for praying, though, for the person with the bad attitude. So, in those moments when I am biting my tongue, I can also be praying in my heart. That is far more soothing to my nerves than arguing, and far less stressful.
Dear God, help me to see when to hold back and pray, rather than make a situation worse with my words.
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