My Sister and I were talking on the phone and she was giving me sisterly advice (which I very much needed and appreciate0. She told me that I was a very passionate person and needed to find a way to have discussions, and sometimes friendships, without the passion. What? Do something without passion?? But she may be right. Passion is great, and to live with passion is a wonderful thing. But Just as Justice needs to be tempered with mercy, Passion needs to be tempered with Reason.
Justice is a wonderful thing, but is hard to take in it’s purest form. Not to mention Justice is very inflexible and non-compassionate. What is Justice without Mercy? The two must be together to truly honor and bring out the best in each other. That is why it needs to be diluted, or tempered. Same thing with Passion. In certain doses, it is wonderful. But it needs to be tempered with Reason, Calm, And a dash of Reserve. This recipe may just be what is needed.
When you love, I believe it should be with your whole heart and passionately. But…when having a discussion (a fight or disagreement), we need to pull that passion back a bit. I have been working on my temper, but could not figure out just how to bring it all together. My sister just nailed it. If I temper my Passion with Reason and I listen more, spout off less, I think that will be the secret to success. Extricating old habits is very hard, but maybe if I approach this change with passion, it just might be the lubrication needed to facilitate the change faster.
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