What Do You Do When No One Is Looking?
Integrity is how you act when no one is looking. No one was looking this morning and I blew it! Today is my daughter’s 14th birthday. I planned to go for a short jog, head to the bank, cash a check, purchase her gifts, and be home before anyone awoke. The presents would be wrapped, on the table, and we would have icecream before 9am.
My first mistake was going to a bank we don’t normally use. The teller was very nice. I waited 15 minutes knowing I was on a strict time schedule. She began to ask questions. I answered and she resumed clicking on the computer for another 5 minutes. After I had waited 25 minutes, she proceeded to tell me that she could not cash the check.
INSTEAD OF walking away calmly and thanking her for her genuine attempts to cash the check, I drilled her with 50 questions, irrationally tried to reason with her, and half-heartedly apologized for my impatience. I didn’t stop there either. I got in the car and called my husband. I reamed him as if he had anything to do with it. After hanging up on him, I continued foolishly complaining to the air.
What in the world happened to me? It was like an evil person jumped from inside my body and took over. Does that ever happen to you? If it doesn’t, pacify me and act like it does.
As I was throwing my fit, the word INTEGRITY came to my mind! (Don’t you hate it when that happens? You are really mad and some logical thought flies through your head that makes you feel like gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe.) How did I act today when no one was watching? How did I treat someone who was trying to help me?
I realized this morning I have a lot of room to grow in the integrity department. Thank goodness God is in the business of growth and transformation. What do I do the next time Mrs. Evil leaps from my body and takes over? Slap her and put her back in her place! Recognize the behavior, regain integrity, and act with intelligence!
My first mistake was going to a bank we don’t normally use. The teller was very nice. I waited 15 minutes knowing I was on a strict time schedule. She began to ask questions. I answered and she resumed clicking on the computer for another 5 minutes. After I had waited 25 minutes, she proceeded to tell me that she could not cash the check.
INSTEAD OF walking away calmly and thanking her for her genuine attempts to cash the check, I drilled her with 50 questions, irrationally tried to reason with her, and half-heartedly apologized for my impatience. I didn’t stop there either. I got in the car and called my husband. I reamed him as if he had anything to do with it. After hanging up on him, I continued foolishly complaining to the air.
What in the world happened to me? It was like an evil person jumped from inside my body and took over. Does that ever happen to you? If it doesn’t, pacify me and act like it does.
As I was throwing my fit, the word INTEGRITY came to my mind! (Don’t you hate it when that happens? You are really mad and some logical thought flies through your head that makes you feel like gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe.) How did I act today when no one was watching? How did I treat someone who was trying to help me?
I realized this morning I have a lot of room to grow in the integrity department. Thank goodness God is in the business of growth and transformation. What do I do the next time Mrs. Evil leaps from my body and takes over? Slap her and put her back in her place! Recognize the behavior, regain integrity, and act with intelligence!
"A wise woman keeps herself under control." Proverbs 29:11
posted by Stephanie Chase @ 8:51 PM
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