Teasing a skunk with a stick

Sometimes King James English cracks me up: Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife. Proverbs 30:33 (KJV Cambridge Ed.) That's a lot of "bringeths!! :)

Monika translation: If you hang out with a bunch of wild poodles, you're gonna get fleas; if you tease a skunk with a stick, you're gonna get sprayed; and if you put grease in your Uncle Bubba's hot rod fuel tank, you're gonna get hollered at.

Even more simply put: if you're angry, ask God to help you calm down. Breathe. Count to ten. Sing "Silent Night." Don't let your anger get the best of you, because left unchecked, it will.

Think of anger as a mob of bees. If you leave them alone, they won't (no pun intended) bug you. They go about their bee business, right? Making honey, creating wax, saving humanity with their pollinating ways. Bees are cool but they don't like to be bothered. The minute you cruise up to a group of bees and start say, sticking your face in their hive, they're not happy. They sting. They're defending their territory.

So it goes with anger. When it (anger) rises up, leave it alone. Walk away. Keep the peace.

Say out loud, based on James 1:19-20:

"I am quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for my anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."
And in case you're reading this and you're thinking,

"That's nice, Monika, but I'm a calm, easy-going person. I'm not really one of those anger management type of people," just know that this applies to the barista at Starbucks who gets your order wrong, to the clerk at Sears that insists upon calling in backup so she can go on her break right as you walk up to the counter, and your family member who keeps leaving huge piles of laundry in the middle of their bedroom floor.

Breathe.