Dealing with people

One of the greatest challenges humans have been facing on this planet is the problem of dealing with people. I once read a documentary about a very famous and well-respected clergy in Africa. When he was asked about his biggest challenges in ministry, he said, "Dealing with people."

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Sometimes, I wish I could be everyone because I tend to be very considerate. I know when someone is not ready to vibe or how to sense a person's mood. If it's a bad mood, I either try to cheer the person up or walk away in order not to stir up more anger.

As for me, when it comes to dealing with people, it is not like I have grown to that stage of perfection where I understand everyone, no. There are times when I fail to compose myself and may end up losing my cool.
On my worst days, when I feel that too much involvement with people will only stir up more anger or worsen my mood, I try as much as possible to distance myself from people. If I cannot do that, I make an effort to maintain a smile while communicating with anyone pushing for interaction. This smile helps to suppress the anger from coming out. However, this does not always work because some days, the bad mood inside is just too heavy to be overshadowed by a mere smile especially when a person keeps repeating an irritating behavior.

There was a day I got really annoyed by a neighbor whom I am not particularly fond of. It is not like we share a close bond; it is just the usual neighborly acquaintance. That day, I was feeling very down—I had a severe headache and cold. I had placed water under the sun so I could use it for a warm bath since I was too unwell to have a cold one. To my surprise, this guy used the water. When I noticed what he had done, I managed to summon enough strength to knock on his door and ask him why he did that. All he did was look at me, remain silent, and then lock his door against me.

At that moment, my anger intensified, and it worsened the pain in my head due to the headache I was already experiencing. What surprised me the most was that he was fully aware that I had been sick. The least he could have done was to say sorry or at least provide warm water as a replacement. I understood that there was no water in the compound that day, but he could have acknowledged the situation instead of just snubbing me.

I wanted to react by initiating a physical fight or at least banging on his door and raising my voice so that people would gather. However, I decided to keep my cool and assume that he was having a bad day too—because he was not usually like that. But to be honest, what truly sponsored my calmness that day was my illness. If not for that, I doubt I would have been able to control my anger.

Around 8 p.m. that evening, he came to my house to apologize for what he had done. I accepted his apology and chose to let go of everything.

Thanks!

I wrote this in response to Hive Ghana contest