When someone bumps into you….

I was at Starbucks last month and had just picked up my tea. As I turned around and proceeded to slowly walk to my table, a woman harshly bumps into me as she made her way to the counter. The hot tea poured over my hand and out onto the floor. “OUCH!!”, I said as hand was burning. Everyone around me said, “Are you okay?”, as they could see half my cup on the floor. The woman who bumped into me did not apologize or acknowledge me in anyway and just stood at the counter letting the barista know she was in a hurry and needed her coffee now.

I have learned over the years that people are people and the only thing I have control over is my emotional and mental state. Instead of reacting, I chose to observe as I know life always has a way of taking care of these types of situations for me.

The barista looked at her, then looked at me and then looked down at the floor letting me know she saw the spilled tea. She left the till and the woman standing there and calmly walked over to the closet, came back and walked over to where I was standing and proceeded to mop the floor. 

Now, the woman at the counter was so mad and wondering why she was not the priority. “I am a customer. Why are you mopping the floor now.”  And together, the barista and I said, “Because you spilled her (my) tea and this is a hazard which makes it a priority so no one falls.” Again, no acknowledgement on her part.  

The barista went back to the closet to take care of the mop, then walked over to me, passing the woman at the counter and proceeds to take my tea order again letting the lady know she will be right there. And as divine order would have it, another barista who was now free, decided to give me ice for my hand and all the other barrista’s were engaged with other customers.

The woman finally left in a huff as she was not being served. 

Now, say you are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere.

Why did you spill the coffee?

“Well because someone bumped into me, of course!”

Wrong answer.

You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup.Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea.

Whatever is inside the cup, is what will spill out.

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It’s easy to fake it, until you get rattled.

So we have to ask ourselves… “what’s in my cup?”

When life gets tough, what spills over?

Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility? Or anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions?

You choose!

Becoming our best self is about filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, kindness and love for others no matter what level they are at. Then when life gets a bit bumpy you pour out only goodness.