Static

I live in Colorado. Driving through the mountains and listening to the radio can be frustrating. For some reason, I always get the same two stations; Classical and Tejano. When I finally find a station I like, it takes about two minutes before static starts creeping in.

I'll hang on and listen to that station as long as I can, as the static gets louder. When I finally can't take it anymore and turn the station, I realize my back is tight, my ears are ringing, I’m edgy and ready to snap at anyone driving near me. Because it had grown gradually, I hadn't noticed what it was doing to me.

The thing about life is we are always living with static. There is always something, some kind of stress, running in the background of our minds.

We’ll have a conversation with a person at work, but the fight we had with our spouse in the morning is causing static. That might not be enough to impact the conversation, but if you add, a 15 year old son you caught drinking the night before, financial trouble and a parent who is dying, it's almost impossible to hear the conversation.

We need to realize that everyone we bump into has various levels of static. All we can see are their actions but in the background there is static. If someone seems to be overreacting, there's probably a reason. Maybe you should ask. 

We need to be aware of the static in our own lives as well. It's cumulative, can build up slowly and we might not notice the effect it's having on us. I realize there are things that impact us that we can't change, stresses that are unavoidable. 

But if we are over our heads, we need to take some time to evaluate what we can control and make some changes. Sometimes we need to change the channel. Sometimes we need to stop the car and go for a hike. We never think we have the time, but in the long run, disengaging is a whole lot better than running someone off the road.