My husband was driving to work one dark morning. On the expressway, not going very fast he was hit from behind. Both cars pulled over and he was steaming. He got out to look at the damage, ready to go off on the young woman driving the other car, who was still sitting in her car texting.

When she finally got out, she handed him her phone. It read “I am deaf. I just texted my father to come and translate for me.” Self energy poured into him in the form of compassion and he felt the angry part retreat. He asked if she was ok, in writing on his own phone, assured her that he was able to wait for her father to arrive. Within minutes her father arrived and she collapsed into his arms in tears. She had not been driving for very long and I can only imagine the difficulty of navigating a car without the ability to hear.

Had my husband’s angry part been allowed free reign, it would have been a much more upsetting ordeal for her and he would have felt terrible. A minor fender bender (with someone who has good auto insurance, thankfully) seemed to be a small problem compared to the challenges she faces regularly.

As he told me this story, most prominent for him was the gratitude he felt that he had Self energy that morning, that he had the extra minute or two waiting for her to exit her car to allow the angry part to step back and allow the Self to take charge.