This last week I had an interesting experience happen to me. I let my friend borrow my car for a date and when he parked it, he parked in a (not very well marked) handicap spot. My car ended up getting towed. I wasn't sure how to exactly go about talking to him about it because I wanted to keep his friendship, but I also wanted him to pay for the fee. As I was going about this I swore that I wouldn't let other people borrow my car because of the headache it was causing me.
He ended up being very reasonable and took ownership for his error. He paid the fine. We talked for a while after we had settled the bill. It turns out that he needed to talk just to relieve some stress and I was able to help him out. If I had been upset and not willing to approach it in a decent manner, I could have lost a friend and not been able to help him feel better.
I recently heard a quote that said, in essence, "When we look back on our lives we will realize, to our dismay, how much of our own trials we created in our own minds." (Badly paraphrased) When I find myself angry, it usually sets me back unnecessarily, and it sounds like that is what happened this week for you as well. Glad to hear it all worked out.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you've been reading How to Win Friends and Influence People, eh? It's a good thing you were able to keep a cool head and help our friend out!
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