"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1

Sometimes on a nice day, everything's going honkey dorey. Then something awry happens. A driver cuts into your lane without signalling. A taxi driver stops on a single lane road to offload a passenger that took forever. Your loved ones says something or does something you strongly disapporve of. A friend you trusted turned against you. The call centre personnel could not resolve your network problem and gave you some stupid answer. A boss scolds you wrongfully.

I have no control over what others do to me, especially strangers. I also have no control over what my loved ones and friends say or do to me. But I have full control over how I react. I know I must not react harshly or say harsh words. I must be patient because a gentle answer turns away wrath.

I remembered as a collective sales chairperson 3 years ago, I had to deal with different people with different agenda. Some of them were nice to me. Others were downright rude and demanding. Some agents threatened me. I naturally did not react kindly to such people and it was a costly mistake because it doesn't help to have enemies in life. I could have been kinder and be more patient, to listen more, to be more cooperative. I could have made tonnes more out of the deal.

I also remembered my experience with MacPherson Green. The agent hinted to me to quickly bid for it because the bidding was fierce. I reverted a tad too late and she told me it was sold. I was pretty angry and chided her for concluding the deal too early. She told me that there was another house in MacPherson for sale the next day but did not tell me where. 6 months later, the project went en bloc with a 100% premium!

All these incidents caused me to reflect on myself, how I should control myself, no matter how badly treated I felt I was. Once the tongue is unleashed, the damage may not be repaired. I must especially be patient and loving to my loved ones, my wife, my parents, in-laws, colleagues, subordinates.... The inner circle in my life formed my spine. I must build them up.