Can’t See Clearly
Hey, good morning team. Alright, so it is now September officially. The boys started school yesterday, and here we go. So, I was reading this quote. I found this quote. You guys know I like quotes, and I like to read a lot of books and stuff like that. But as I’m sitting here, it’s a little chilly out today. For me, it’s actually not September 6 right now, but when you guys view this. So, if you sit there and you’re like, “Look outside, Chad, it’s 94 degrees today,” because it’s, you know. Please understand I sometimes post these a little bit early.
Anyway, let’s get back to the quote. Let’s not take a bunch of time. You cannot see a reflection in boiling water, just like you cannot see the truth in a state of anger. You only find clarity when you are calm. See, when the water is calm, you walk up to a pond or a lake, and you can see a reflection in that. But in rolling rapids and a rushing stream or in boiling water, even in a pot of water, you can see a reflection, but you cannot see it when that water is boiling.
Well, when you’re angry and you’re upset, you can’t see the truth because all you can do is feud over and steam over and boil over on the issue at hand. And it’s hard for you to actually receive instruction or truth. I’ve seen this with my boys, I’ve seen this with team members, I’ve seen this with myself, I’ve seen this in my marriage. I have seen from time to time, many times, where my own frustration or anger clouds my own judgment. And usually, that cloud is pride. It’s our own desire to be right. It’s our own desire to have things the way we want them. I want Karen to be a certain way. I want my boys to be a certain way. My boys want a certain thing.
Here recently, my five-year-old spent over $250 on earphones and gaming stuff and a camera and things. He bought stuff online on Amazon because he got a hold of my iPad. And so, right, and he was upset that I was sending it back, go figure. He was roaring mad. But the facts of the matter are, when he’s angry and he’s frustrated and he’s over the top, he can’t even hear the truth of what he did wrong because he’s just mad. He’s boiling over. And so, just like that for you today, I want you to think, how do you calm yourself so that you can find clarity and look for truth? Do you look at every situation and look for your reflection in that process? Do you reflect on your own mistakes?
My great-grandmother, God rest her soul, used to say, “Two wrongs never make a right.” She used to always say that. I’d be upset about something, and my brother took this toy or my brother broke this toy or this or that or whatever it was and stuff, and maybe I hit my brother or something. And my great-grandmother would always look at me, she’d say, “Chad, two wrongs don’t make a right.” And that was hard to hear because I was upset in the moment. But she had such a calming voice and such a calming way of expressing the truth that I had to reflect on the fact that me being angry about the toy and stuff didn’t give me the right to do something else wrong.
And some of us, maybe you’re listening to this right now, you need to calm yourself and you need to reflect and look inward and see maybe what you are doing. You want to see clarity in your marriage, you want to see clarity in your relationships with your children, you want to see clarity in relationships with your co-workers, your boss. Look inward to find those. And guys, that’s hard to do. Looking inward and recognizing our own mistakes is hard to do sometimes for us. But when we do, in those moments when I’ve done that, not only do I get clarity, but I’m able to reconcile many of those relationships in a more positive way.
So, as you go through this week, I want you to know that sometimes I still boil over, sometimes I still can’t see my reflection, I still make those mistakes, but I’m trying. And if you will try too. If you’ll join me in that process and think on this message the rest of this week, and maybe the rest of this year, and take it into next year, you will find that clarity, you will reconcile those relationships, you will have a closer-knit group of friends, and you’ll have a happier life because you’ll remain more calm and you won’t get angry because you’ll be able to see your own reflection in the process.
Alright, God bless you guys. You have a wonderful week. It’s going to be epic. We’re marching into, and pretty soon it will be Halloween. Say yay, Sonja! It’s almost Halloween. Alright, God bless you guys. I’ll see you later.