A Lifestyle of ForgivenessSample

DAY TWO – A TRUE STORY

One day I had to take my husband’s car to the dealership for a repair. After it was all done, I headed for the payment counter to settle the bill. One of the dealership employees was at the desk ahead of me, talking about something with the woman behind the counter. 

When she left and I stepped up to take my turn, I almost laughed out loud at the expression on the face of the woman behind the counter. Her face was all puckered up and her eyebrows were furrowed in an angry glare. She looked like she had just sucked on a lemon!

“Hi,” I said as I presented my paperwork to her. In response she swiped at her face and began making little “puff” noises with her nose and mouth, as if she was trying to rid herself of a pesky bug.

So I asked her, “Are you okay?” 

With an expression of deep offense, she nodded in the direction of her departed fellow-employee and said angrily, “Her perfume is just so strong! I like some smells, but her perfume really gets to me.” Everything about her tone and demeanor was saying, “How dare she wear that perfume?”

I managed to keep from laughing out loud at the poor woman, but I thought to myself, “It’s so easy to become irritated and offended, isn’t it? Even over small stuff!” I doubt that her fellow employee wore the perfume on purpose just to bug her. I was sorry it affected her so badly, but I wondered if she would let this event color her whole day. 

Sometimes that happens, doesn’t it? Intentionally or unintentionally, someone ticks us off, even in a minor way, and we let it get under our skin and bug us all day long.

But what if we got so good at quickly and easily forgiving that instead of notifying everyone that we’re ticked off, we didn’t even notice those things?