The Message from the Puppet

Living in the New York area you can hear some interesting words thrown around as you go through your day.  Tonight I happened to hear some pretty harsh ones directed at a friend of mine due to a pushing incident on the train commute home.  My friend was involved in the incident and it seemed that the 2 parties parted ways once they found their seats on the train.  4 stops later after ruminating on her wounded ego the other person marched over to my friend and spat out some choice words which I will not repeat but you get the idea.  My friend sat silently and took it and the other person marched back to her seat having spoken her peace.  

There is an idea in Judaism that EVERYTHING that happens to us and EVERY person we interact with is divinely orchestrated for our best interest.  So how could something like this incident I witnessed today be a positive teaching tool? That's something my friend would have to personally reflect on.  If I have an experience that's uncomfortable or unpleasant for me I try to hit pause, pull myself up and out of the situation and reflect from an outside perspective.  What am I supposed to be getting from this person or situation right now?  

Last week I took a skirt of mine to get tailored.  It was waaay too big on me and I was practically swimming in it.  The time had come.  I thought the tailor had made the proper adjustments but when I returned a week later the skirt was STILL waaaay too big and I've had to wait another week to pick it up.  As this is a skirt I wear fairly often I was kinda annoyed.  What did I extrapolate from this situation? Patience and acceptance. These have been 2 major stumbling blocks for me throughout my life and you usually see the same patterns of trip ups come around over and over and over again until you break your reaction pattern and change the way you're responding to these triggers.  I find that once you're able to master your response the triggers usually go away.  Of course new tests tend to pop up in their place but that's the beauty and joy of life! :)  Try to keep in mind the next time you encounter a difficult person or unpleasant situation that this is a puppet being used to communicate a message to you.  Don't engage in the puppet show, just sit back, watch and try and figure out what the show is about.