Why so serious…
You look at someone who’s always happy and wonder, why is he like that?
Or at someone who’s always sad and say, how did she get like that?
We all experience a range of emotions daily. They come and go and are at different degrees. Someone surprising you with a gift brings about emotions of happiness and appreciation. You may reflect on the people in your life and feel grateful for each and everyone of them. It may even make you want to positively affect someone else’s life. When this feeling lingers for hours or days, we say about this person, he’s in a good mood.
On the other hand, someone trapping you into a parking spot with their vehicle will trigger annoyance and irritation. These emotions may linger for a while and set you in a bad mood for the rest of the day or even the week. You may begin viewing the world as a selfish place where everyone looks out for themselves. You’re less courteous and easily triggered. You fear that everyone is trying to take advantage of you.
When the mood lingers, it can develop into an attitude. Attitudes last much longer. And it can be described as your predictable or default behaviour.
I’ve seen this with bus drivers in the UK. Their temperament is different depending on where they work. Drivers in Hillingdon provide transport to many elderly citizens daily. They smile, make eye contact and are patient when these old men and women take extra time to board and leave the buses. This is very different from the drivers in Acton that deal with mostly high school kids, working people and drunks.
When these attitudes are exercised day in and day out, it eventually shapes our personality and defines who we are. So, these terms we use to describe people, cool, laid back, bitter, resentful, etc, they were not characteristics given to us at birth. Rather, they were moods that stemmed from emotions. Moods that we fed and allowed to linger until they became our attitude.
These are important issues because most bitter people are incapable of showing appreciation. Rather, it can be so severe that eventually they are unable to love. It’s safe to say that past experiences act like knives that shape our soul.
