Just the other day I had arrived back to my college home, the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity, in a great mood. I had been at a district selection day interviewing some outstanding members and had just sat down in front of my desk to look at my list of to do’s. This list made the Iliad look short, and put made my disposition switch from happy and jovial to a mood that resembled Britney Spears after she was given a sparkly mauve sports car, rather than the sparkly pink one she wanted. Is now a good time to mention I have a bit of a temper I inherited from my father? Just as I was about to go all CAPS LOCK on my desk, and anything within reach, I found a picture of my little brother and remembered a time when this attitude could very well have put me in the E.R
I had a similar mood switch one day when we were fertility testing bulls back home. I had plans that evening, but even before we were done with the bulls my father kindly kept adding things on to my to do list for the day, causing that good ol’ Smith temper to begin to kick in. About the time my blood was at approximately 212 degrees, a bull balked momentarily in the alley. In my state I reacted by giving him a hard (we are talking UFC fighter hard here) slap to the rump. Apparently he was in an equally bad mood and responded by kicking back at me and catching me right below the rib cage. This kick lifted me off the ground spun me around and landed me on my stomach. Now, I can quote the entire movie 8 seconds when it is muted so the reality of a rib through a lung or heart is something I know well. As soon as I felt myself rocket skyward I thought to myself “I’m dead, I’m gonna hit and not get up!” Miraculously I came out of it with nothing more than some severe bruising to my stomach and area where my Abs are supposed to be and was able to keep on working. By letting my attitude control my actions I made what could have been a fatal decision.
I’m not saying that I always control my attitude, nobody truly can we are all human and we all make mistakes. However that doesn’t mean we can’t try and keep calm and react in a more civilized manner. So the next time you find yourself about to go off like a bad baking soda experiment in science class, think of the possible outcomes, grab a hold of your attitude and bear down and ride it rather than letting it stomp you into the ground, remember not to slap that “bull” that is your emotions on the rump.
