Microsoft Word who will cry when u die doc

38. 
Keep Your Cool 
“Anyone can become angry – that’s easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right 
time, for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not easy,” taught Aristotle. With all the stress and 
pressure in our lives, it is easy to lose our cool at the slightest irritation. While we are rushing home from work 
at the end of another exhausting day, we scream at the slow driver in front of us who apparently has all the time 
the world. While we shop at the grocery store, we get annoyed with the stock clerk who sends us to the wrong 
aisle when we are in search of the ingredients for tonight’s lasagna. And while we are eating our dinner, we yell 
at the telemarketer who has the nerve to interrupt us in an attempt to sell us their latest wares. 
 
The problem with losing your temper on a daily basis is that it becomes a habit. And like most habits, a 
time arrives when it becomes second nature. Personal relationships start unraveling, business partnerships begin 
to fall apart and your credibility decreases as you become known as “a loose cannon.” Effective people are 
consistent and, in many ways, predictable. Tough times call for cool people and they are always cool and calm 
when the pressure is on. Keeping your cool in a moment of crisis can save you years of pain and anguish. 
Hurtful words unleashed in a single minute of anger have led to many a broken friendship. Words are like 
arrows: once released, they are impossible to retrieve. So choose yours with care. 
 
An excellent way to control your temper is simply to count to 100 before you respond to someone who 
has irritated you. Another strategy to use is what I call the “Three Gate Test.” The ancient sages would only 
speak if the words they were about to utter passed three gates. At the first gate, they asked themselves, Are 
these words truthful? If so, the words could then pass on to the third gate, where they would ask, Are these 
words kind? If so, then only would they leave their lips and be sent out into the world. “Treat people as if they 
were what they ought to be and help them become what they are capable of being,” said the German poet 
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. These are wise words to live by.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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