Out of Control

I lost my cool a little bit this week with someone that I work with.  I had been pushed and pushed on a deadline by him, and for the first time in years of having a deadline to meet, I was not able to meet it.  My work that I was doing affected my co-worker’s own deadlines, and so he let me know how unhappy he was about it in some not so nice ways.

At first I just sat there and listened, but finally I lost my cool a little and acted in a way I was not proud of later.

Has this ever happened to you?  Have you ever lost your cool in the workplace and ended up saying some things that you later regretted?

A Real Christian businessman knows that we are all human and sometimes do and say things that we later regret.  But we also know that we need to make things right after the fact, especially if we recognize our inappropriate actions once it is all said and done.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)

The next morning the first thing I did when I arrived at work was go up to my co-worker and apologize for my actions and ask for their forgiveness.  Ironically, they were looking for me when I arrived to do the exact same thing – apologize to me as well!

We both recognized that the way we had spoken to each other was very unhealthy and inappropriate, so we both knew what we needed to do to make things right.

Use this as a reminder this week that even if we make mistakes in our actions towards others (and it will happen sometime or another!), our best course of action is to make the effort to correct it.  Not many people in the workplace are willing to even consider acting in this way.  Are you?