“Two elements must therefore be rooted out once for all, – the fear of future suffering, and the recollection of past suffering; since the latter no longer concerns me, and the former concerns me not yet.” – Seneca, from Letters from a Stoic
After a long day at work and terrible traffic, you finally make it home. The stress has taken its toll, and you’re exhausted, bored, and frustrated with the day’s events all at once. You walk into your kitchen to find a heaping pile of dishes–something you asked your spouse to take care of this morning! Yet, they’re relaxing in front of the TV as if nothing’s wrong.
You feel the anger rising up, and unable to control yourself, you yell at your spouse. You don’t hold back. You’re out to make a point, to prove that what happened is a really big deal.
Your spouse is frightened and embarrassed. They’re worried–you’ve never yelled at them like this before. They were going to do the dishes later, but you never gave them that opportunity. The day’s been long for them too, yet you didn’t care. They just wanted to have a nice night with you, but now that’s ruined.
Source: Daily Stoic — Read the full article on the original site ↗