My office, at Seraphim Center in Gainesville, was a half hour from where I lived in the country. On the highway, I could drive by the main streets of two towns and then be beyond exits with stop lights. It was a pleasurable ride by pastures and trees, and once in the city I was close to my building.
This morning, "I had left the farm with enough time to arrive at my office five minutes before my first appointment. Starting my car, I backed up—and lodged my back right wheel on a protruding rock. Frustrated, I got out and put boards under the tire. That failing, I attempted to lift the car. When I couldn’t, in defeat I started to walk away, then suddenly dropped to my knees and, pounding the ground, hollered, Why is this happening to me? I’m going to be late. Moments later, I sat up with complete inner calm and said to myself, in adult appraisal, I’m having a temper tantrum. This is what it is like. I didn’t remember ever having one, and had only heard others lose control. Standing up, I went in, phoned my road help agency, then the center, and patiently waited for professional rescue."*
My realization is, "One way we understand others is to have had the experience ourselves, preferably ameliorating our response from what we’ve learned with our own behavior."
*A Flower for God