Look out for your Disposition

Look at people with whom you have regular encounters. They are likely to have some behaviour that you don’t fully approve of. Now, the funny thing is that sometimes you come across that behaviour and you will be able to take it in your stride. In other words, it is a small matter and you can ‘live with it’. On other occasions, you will find exactly the same behaviour as highly annoying. You feel like criticising, possibly ending up in an argument.

Why is it that sometimes the same behaviour is acceptable and sometimes highly annoying? Since it is the same behaviour, the difference must lie within us. It is our current disposition (towards the other person).

Why would our disposition change?

One reason is, we ourselves are a bit under pressure. Because of that, we become short-tempered and the other person has to suffer because of this. Not fair, is it? The solution is to bring to the forefront of your thinking, something like – today I am bit ‘edgy’, let’s think twice before I react to a situation.

Another reason could be that the other person has upset you already with something else and now this little behaviour is the trigger point for you to ‘explode’.  The solution is discussing the real issue early. Don’t just keep quiet and use a small, normally acceptable matter, to voice your displeasure. That is difficult to understand for the other party.