About an hour ago, I joined the mass exodus off the subway train. It had been a busy day at work and I had a bus to catch and one more errand to run before going home. As we made our way through the turnstiles and began up the stairs of the subway station, I noticed a young woman standing on the steps. As I was part of the outgoing traffic, I had a clear view of her. She was about three steps in, her back towards potential incoming crowd traffic, and she was on the phone. Her position on the steps basically made her a human road bump as others had to slow down while attempting to navigate around her. Taking in the scene, I found myself in the early stages of getting highly annoyed at her for choosing to stand there. I began to think, "She's obviously in the way. Doesn't she care that she's in the way? If the call is really important, why not go back above ground and away from the stairway?" But then, about the same time the annoyance was really starting to take root, another thought broke in. "I'm not going to use her as an excuse to get upset." And immediately, I was able to withdraw my attention from her and continue up the stairs with my peace of mind intact. Now, there have been countless times that I have sacrificed my peace of mind and in the process flung some emotional poison to those I've held accountable in someway. So it honestly felt really good to be able to stop myself from taking a trip to the Land of Grrr! And at the same time genuinely feel I didn't send any negative vibes in her direction. Who knows what will happen if I find myself starring in the same scenario tomorrow or a month from now? But at least today, in this moment, I can say I'm feeling pretty good about remembering to take responsibility for my peace of mind ♥ Just sharing ♥