seize the opportunity

The Prayer of St. Francis goes like this:
O Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.

Last week, I had an opportunity to be such an angel - my husband sprained his ankle badly and was completely out of commission. Not only was his ankle horribly injured, but his ego was as well. He was wounded mentally and physically. So he presented me with a perfect opportunity to console, show love and joy. But instead, I felt irritated and annoyed that he was indulging in self-pity, and resented the hours he was spending in front of the TV, nursing his injury and his pride. Even if he needed help viewing the sprain for what it was -- a temporary inconvenience in an otherwise blessed life of abundance -- I did not help him in a way that served him, but instead added insult to his injury. The ramifications for this? I planted the seeds to have someone NOT show me compassion in the future. And here he was - giving me the opportunity to plant the seeds for someone to show me compassion and love - and I missed it! How can I avoid missing future opportunities? By remembering to see everyone I meet, and everything that happens to me -- especially the difficult people and incidents -- as special and meaningful. By presuming that even the most difficult person is an angel, trying to help me -- sometimes kindly but more often by pushing my buttons! If no-one pushes my buttons, I'll never know where and what they are. And I'll never get rid of them.