What Happens When You Act a Fool

by Desiree Coleman
(http://www.thelovejourney.com/)

It all started off as a peaceful, calm afternoon today. The sun was shining and I was enjoying the day……until, I got some news that I was not thrilled with. My husband had called to tell me that the carpet cleaners had arrived at the house and the bill was going to be $90 more than I had anticipated. Now, that was not the deal I had previously agreed to when I placed the service and I wanted to get to the bottom of things.

So, I called and asked to speak to the manager of the company, and thus this tale begins. When he got on the phone, he was like, “Ma’am….I’m sorry, I don’t know why they have you that information but we are no longer running that deal for the lower rate. You will need to pay the higher rate.” Silence. “Excuse me”, I thought in my head. Your staff quoted me one rate and now you are at my house giving me another rate? I could feel it happening. A blow up was on the way.

You know how you have friends who know you from back in the day and have seen the full transformation into who you are now? These are the friends who can fill in the blank, “I remember when you used to __________________.”

Now, anything can go in that blank. For one person, it could be, “I remember when you used to drink til you passed out” but for someone else, it might be “I remember when you used to sleep around.” Well, we all have our past issues, but one of my fill in the blank answers is relates to my attitude. There are some people in my circle who can say, “Desiree, I remember when you used to have a STANK ATTITUDE back in the day” and that attitude my friends, would routinely cause me to go off on people, give folks a piece of my mind and on occasion I might have even cussed. And old habits die hard. Back to the story.

So, the man on the phone is all insistent that they will not honor the lower rate and if I didn’t like it, they would just leave. So, I hung up on him…..but before I did, I have him a full fledged ”you’re-not-gonna-talk-to-me-any-kind-of-way” piece of my mind. In 2.5 seconds, I went completely off and then hung up the phone….just like in the old days. Just like that, I had lost it.

Have you ever been there? Just went off in a fit of rage or said some words you wish you could take back or just acted a complete fool? Its not pretty and it certainly doesn’t please God or help our relationships. The part of the story I failed to mention is that in the midst of going off on the guy at the store, my husband called and unfortunately he caught some of the wrath because my tone and attitude was all wrong when I spoke to him. It was at that moment, that I realized I couldn’t be the kind, loving person I wanted to be – without the help of God. Because the “Old Desiree” and the “Back in the Day Desiree” could easily creep back in and cause me to lose control or act unbecomingly. I was reminded today that I am who I am only because of God. On busy days like today when I fail to spend Him with God or pray to Him, I am most susceptible to falling and more likely to just plain ole’ act a fool.

After I de-escalated from a 9 to a 3…..I read Galatians 5 and it talked about us exuding love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and mercy. I missed just about everything on that list today. I apologized to my husband. And I even called the store back to apologize to the gentleman. He thanked me so much and even apologized for his tone too.

What am I saying? If we are to be kind and loving and caring in our relationships….through our actions and our words….we truly need supernatural help. If we are to honor our spouse and the people we cherish, we can’t do it alone because we are imperfect people. So, if you haven’t today, take the time to seek God and find strength….so you don’t have to act a fool like I did:)

Photo courtesy of: abww.wordpress.com