I went to the grocery to purchase some items for our kitchen. While there I was forced to stand in line before I could pay for my stuff. The ladies in front of me appeared to have all the time in the world. They were older and they wanted to talk and laugh with the cashier. The lady behind me was obviously was in a hurry. She huffed and puffed and finally went to a nearby line that appeared to have faster service.
While standing there it hit me that everybody has a day like that. Every one of us has a day where:
-We are in a hurry or when we have all the time in the world
-We are angry and not nice to be around or a day when we want to talk and visit
-We are annoying to others or we are entertaining to others
-We are tired or when we are full of energy
-We are the model of Christianity or we are all that is wrong with religion
I could go on and on, but I am sure you get the point. Everyone has one of those types of days.
Here is the tough part of that truth. We must resist the temptation to view a person through the lens of one good day or of one bad day. At least I know that I must face this reality all the time. I can easily view someone as a glorious person because of one experience or I can easily view someone as awful because of an encounter.
So the next time I meet someone who is “rubbing me the wrong way” I need to remind myself that this might just be a one time thing for them and I have probably been like that myself once in a while.