Retreat

What everyone needs is a retreat. Not a getaway to a fancy destination (although that might help!), but a means to retreat into peace and tranquility into one's own mind. When there is a storm wrecking havoc outside, there is a cave where you can seek shelter and refuge. However, you have to find the cave on your own. You have to creat it, if it doesn't exist.

At the moment of frustration and overwhelm, things explode and get out of hand. Attacks are lashed out and insults are hurled, whether intentionally or not, and it cannot be undone. Today, Edward was wiser than me when he rationalize that you shouldn't take things too personally, after all, we are at work (or more like war!). When a war goes on, there are casualties at all sides, no matter where the fight is directed all. Instead of changing the topic or vehemently agreeing and letting me wallow in self-pity and rage, he did neither. His advice actually proved to be true (it's very rare that advice gets proven in scenarios, as they are after all meant to be advice). However, as you never let your emotions get to you, you should also never let your guard down.

Gratitude that I actually didn't lose my cool came pouring in. It could be potentially damaging if I hadn't held my thoughts and responded to fire with fire. I would just have been a rash, hot headed fool that engages in battles when the ego is challenged, no matter how trivial or unimportant it is. Again, there are very few good genuine people left. From the moment he spoke, I could tell he was a humble and down-to-earth person. Same as Al.

Don't let someone have that much control over you. Master yourself, find that safe retreat and haven, disengage and engage back with tact. That is the hard part of being complex and human, Cats are very interesting to watch, yet they are very loveable and relatable.

Basic instincts for survival was what we once was, now it''s not just basic survival, it's also keeping up with the Joanases/Kardashians/bandwagon/trend. However, near death incidents will always shake you up and wake you up at the core, no matter what your status or situation is, having a brush with death makes you feel more alive and aware of how little we matter in the grand scheme of things and how fragile each of us is. While a loss is mourned, the world continues at the smooth steady pace towards the future and progress, regardless of passing.

The impact will wear off and the wheel will continue turning. If you don't matter to the world, the only thing left is the figure out what in the world matters to you. And with that, you can live a more fullfilling life.