Eli hates it when I’m angry.
He doesn’t even like it when I raise my voice.
There’s no doubt about it.
He makes his feelings on the subject perfectly clear.
If I raise my voice for any reason, but especially in anger, he bites me. Repeatedly.
I don’t know why he does that, but I think it probably has a lot to do with the abuse he took before I adopted him. Or perhaps it was the violence that he witnessed…
At any rate, he has very sharp teeth, so it gets my attention. Believe me.
So perhaps I should turn him loose on the rest of the country. He could just go around biting anyone who’s yelling about something, or yelling at someone else, for that matter.
It would get their attention. Believe me.
On second thought…
But then again, that’s a huge responsibility for huge responsibility for one cat.
I mean, let’s be honest. It seems like everyone in America is angry about something these days. It seems like everyone is yelling. People are yelling on TV. People are yelling on radio talk shows. People are yelling on social media. People are yelling about politics, politicians, and anything remotely political.
And there’s only so much Eli could do. It would take him a long time to bite everyone.
So maybe it’s time to take a collective breath, America. And maybe it’s time to take a take a good, hard look at ourselves, our behavior and the way we treat others. Maybe it’s time to take responsibility for our actions, and our words. Because that old line about “sticks and stones” is a myth.
Words are incredibly powerful. Especially when everyone is screaming invective at the top of their lungs.
Some unsolicited advice…
For what it’s worth, here’s how I keep my temper in check online and elsewhere.
- If I’ve got to vent I do it in private.
- I repeat the following until I am calm enough to have a rational, civilized discussion: I am an adult. I am in charge of my feelings. No one has the power to make me feel anything. Only I can decide how I react.
- If I see an offensive comment online, I count to 10 before I decide whether to engage, and how to engage with the person who made the offensive comment.
- l remind myself to respect everyone’s right to their opinions, even if I don’t agree.
- If all else fails, I take a deep breath and count to 10, and remember what my mother taught me at a very young age: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all…“
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