Be Kind and Rewind.
Who remembers the Be Kind rewind stickers on Blockbuster VHS video tapes way back when? Some readers may have no clue what I am talking about so here is a quick recap.
Before Netflix and online streaming, we needed to go to a brick-and-mortar store and physically pick out movies that were on these large cassettes called VHS tapes. Large bulky items that sometimes get eaten by the VHS player. Anyway, we needed to rewind the tapes so the next customer could start watching immediately when they picked up the movie we returned. Be kind rewind.
So You Too Can Do This
You can do this in your head and rewind today’s situation a little when you snap at your child, husband, wife, co-worker, or the barista at the local coffee shop. Maybe it’s your latest road rage incident when someone didn’t signal or cut you off. Think of the last time you got upset and ponder on that moment right now…
Think, pause, rewind.
Did that fit of anger, or that moment of rage fix the situation? Probably not. You made yourself upset because someone at work pissed you off and you took it out on someone else, or worse off, you took it out on yourself.
You made yourself upset and then shared your emotion about the non-signaling asshole that cut you off with a friend. So you carried that emotion on and on until you got home and had a glass of wine or that burger to cool you off. You are transferring your emotion to an addiction or a partner because you were upset.
Why Be Upset?
What good does it do to wind yourself up? So let’s rewind. Go back to that exact moment and think… What would have happened if you would have waved that person in and allowed them to get in front of you?
Maybe they too were having a bad day?
Life is not always about you. Stop being so egocentric so self-centered that life and this world revolve around you. Maybe they just found out they or someone in the family has cancer, was in an accident or they just lost their job. Maybe they are upset because the barista used moo, moo milk instead of your fucking fancy almond milk. So before you blow up and take shit out on someone else, ask yourself if it was worth it and would you do it again? Be kind rewind… The answers are out there.
