The little things

For a twenty-one year old girl, I consider myself fairly well-traveled.  I have been to 5 continents, done homestays in 4 of them, and visited 11 countries.  I’ve taken buses in Costa Rica, ridden camels in Morocco, and explored the subway in Paris.  I’ve eaten fermented cabbage, boiled octopus, and fried grasshoppers.  So when I went to South Korea, I didn’t think I’d have a problem adjusting. 

But there’s something about Korea that sticks with you no matter where you go or what you do.  The frustration of not speaking the language or even knowing the letters permeates every facet of life.  Cultural differences abound everywhere you look.  The food, the clothing, the forms of respect; even simple things like doing laundry are different here.  And, because of that, things rarely go the way that I expect them to.  My mind has a set mold that determines what I expect to happen within certain contexts, and every single day – sometimes every single hour – that mold is being challenged and frustrated.

And it’s difficult never knowing what to expect.  Regardless of what country you are in, regardless of how fluently you speak the language or how comfortable you are in in your environment, there are always going to be times when things don’t go according to plan.  And it’s easy to let those little things eat away at you until you’re ready to explode.  You may seem fine…but when the scales finally tip, Heaven help the poor unsuspecting soul who received the brunt of your unexpected and undeserved rage.

But Proverbs warns us repeatedly against allowing anger to control us.  Anger is a cancer that will destroy not only ourselves, but also our relationships with everyone around us.  Be careful that you don’t let it consume you.  Don’t let the little things build up until you’ve created a monster.  Find a healthy outlet to let off steam.  Go running.  Call a friend.  Journal.  Whatever your outlet is, make sure that you find one.  Life is too precious to waste any time fretting about the things that don’t go your way.  Use them, instead, as an opportunity to ask God to teach you something new.  I promise you, He won’t disappoint you.

Proverbs 16:32
Better a patient person than a warrior,
   one with self-control than one who takes a city. 

Proverbs 15:18
A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict,
   but the one who is patient calms a quarrel. 

Proverbs 19:11
A person’s wisdom yields patience;
   it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.