Friday, May 2, 2014

Office Supplies and Emotions

It was a rough week at work.

Nothing life shattering, just one of those weeks where you are overworked, everything that can go wrong will, you are getting audited by the Department of Labor, there is a virus going around.

And then it got better. We were all still feeling pretty blah. I ran into Staples for some stuff we needed. I was on my way to the cash register when I saw the pretty colors!

Seriously, one minute I'm thinking "I need to blah, blah, blah" and the next I'm all "COLORS! PRETTY!"

Post It Notes has these new city themed packets with colors that are supposed to represent certain cities, have you seen them?

Perhaps this is not exciting to you. Perhaps you do not share my obsession and love for office supplies...especially colorful office supplies. But whatever. If you cannot understand the thrill that my sould experienced at that moment...this might not be the post for you.

I was immediately distracted and stopped to inspect them. The moment I saw the NYC pack, I was lost.


The thought process was something like "I love New York City! Broadway is in New York City! Idina Menzel's new show is opening this week! I NEED THESE POST ITS!!! I DESERVE THESE POST ITS!"

So they went in the cart. Suddenly I felt destressed...and then I thought EVERYONE in the office deserved prettily colored office supplies. So I bought something for everyone...post its, paper clips, etc. And by everyone, I'm talking like five people. But still...

I may be too emotional to be in charge of buying office supplies.

I just may be too emotional for life. But it isn't something I can just fix. I can usually manage it. By manage it I mean only fly off the handle half the time.

But it is something I need to remember when I'm feeling left out, offended, or lost. Because the reality is that most of the time no one meant to ignore me, lose me, or desert me.

I only mention this because it feels like emotions are running high on quite a number of issues these days. Maybe we can blame social media but it's getting re-dic-u-lous! It's time for us to take a deep breath and remember that though we are emotional creatures, we don't always have to act emotionally.

I remember hearing a pastor speak to his congregation about the woman accused of adultery. The crowd is ready to stone her. They bring her to Jesus because they are going to kill two birds with one stone. Denounce Jesus and throw rocks at the harlot! Jesus, before He stops the party by reminding everyone that none of them are perfect, stoops down in the dirt and writes something with his finger. The pastor said that Biblical scholars have tried for years to figure out what Jesus was writing...but that he (the pastor) thought Jesus needed a minute. That for just a second the human side of Jesus almost took over long enough for Jesus to yell "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE???" so Jesus stooped in the dirt long enough to get a hold on his "second response". And in doing so, competently handled the situation.

I've kept that in mind for ages. It is one of my favorite sermons to date. And it's good advice. Take a deep breath. Stoop and write in the dirt if you need to...but remember that your first response isn't always the right response.

Unless it's brightly covered office supplies...that's a no brainer.

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