Little Annoyances

This morning I had to run out of downtown to have coffee with a friend and I was reminded of the weight of little annoyances.  Not only their weight on me, but their weight on us all.  I think little annoyances have more impact on our world than we would like to admit.

As I was driving on the interstate out of downtown Minneapolis on the crazy cold morning the roads were spotted with black ice and were quit treacherous, but there were still a few drivers weaving in and out of traffic.  Annoying.  When I got to the coffeehouse that I was meeting at I saw a lady try to get in a door that was an emergency exit and when she realized her mistake she threw up her arms in visible disgust.  In this coffeehouse the door was hanging up on the rug and staying open.  I saw the same person get up and pull it shut at least five times.  On my way back to downtown I got behind a person that did not believe in making right turns on red.  No cars coming.  I could see that she was not even trying.  I was filled with road-rage.  On the interstate again I saw four cars spun on the side of the road.  As I creped by them, the drivers all had the same facial expression.  An expression I understand.  Defeated, annoyed, humiliated, trapped, and now late.  When I got back to our condo I drove into our parking garage and instantly the windows totally steamed up.  This happens when it is twenty below outside.  I crawled through the garage with my head hanging out the rolled down window.  Annoying.  Then finally after dropping our girls off at school I was trying to merge right in order to make a turn and a car visible accelerated in order to make this merge impossible.  Annoying.

I bet if I spent a whole day counting and recounting annoyances I could write not just a book, but volumes of books.  The reality that I am feeling is that it is easy to focus on the annoyances and that same focus compounds as I spot them and brew over them.  Have you ever felt sorry for the person that comes along innocently and feels the wrath of this focus?  I am sorry.  The list of people that have felt that from me is long. 

I need to quit taking little annoyances so seriously.  Laugh more.  Be more flexible.  Realize the scale of annoyance.  Stop grumbling…

When I get these out of balance I find it ruling my world.

Am I alone in this?  From what I saw today… I don’t think so.