Hello from beautiful Montana;

Have you ever noticed the correlation  between how stressed you are and how irritating other people are?  Just when you are the busiest, your friend wants to tell you blow by blow and word by word her war with the telephone company who charged her for a  900 number call that neither she, her husband or 14 year old son would have ever, ever, ever have made!

Meaning of Courtesy

The noun courtesy means politeness originating in kindness. A courteous person is one who displays consideration and good manners on a daily basis to those we come into contact with.

Boy, that is a big order. Daily basis? My family? My long winded friend? The gum chewing clerk who is looking at her fingernails instead of me in the drug store?

We May Want to be Kind and Loving but…

Daily life is stressful and when we encounter rudeness and aggressive behavior, we sometimes react in like manner. We may know in our hearts that our mother was right when she said "Be nice to other people and they will be nice to you."  However the reality is that while we may want to be kind, considerate and understanding, sometimes we act like jerks.

Jerks are Human Too

None of us enjoys realizing that we behaved in a rude way to others, but when it happens, we need to forgive ourselves for being human.  We also need to forgive others who treat us in less than courteous ways. Many times we tend to take every scowl, abrupt answer or irritating behavior as a personal affront.  It isn't always even about us. They may be having a bad day too.

The Golden Rule

This age old wisdom has stood the test of time and experience and is really what our mothers tried to teach us long ago. Treat others as you would like to be treated

When we ask ourselves, "How would I like to be treated?" then we have direction on what we should do to be more mindful of our communications.

Relationships Take Effort

It may feel awkward to not retaliate with unkindness when we have been irritated or annoyed by others.  But if each day, we set an intention to follow the Golden Rule, we will soon have established a habit of courtesy and kindness.  Even to those who irritate us the most.

In gratitude for your continued support of the community of kind, thoughtful people who treat others with respect and tolerance.

Judy H. Wright aka Auntie Artichoke, family relationship coach and author
http://www.ArtichokePress.com    (If you haven't been here for awhile, check it out. You will be glad you did.)

Courtesy to Friends, Family and Rude SalesPeople
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