Yesterday, I almost had an aneurysm in the middle of Nordstrom.

I received a phone call from someone I was doing business with (a mortgage lender). He was furious and started yelling at me. This isn’t the first time this man has been rude to me, and so as calmly as possible, which meant I kept my voice relatively steady and didn’t start yelling four-letter words at him; I told him he could not speak to me that way. As his anger escalated, he called me a liar. (I’m not easily offended, but if my character is judged without cause, watch out). I saw red and hung up instead of scaring all the little kids within earshot by telling him how I really felt about him. I walked out of the store shaking with anger.

I’ve worked on not losing my temper, keeping my cool, and being patient with people all my life. Including this year, I’ve pretty much failed every year for the last 35 years. The first years of my marriage were full of arguments and lots of yelling because we both had quick tempers that would ignite like wildfire and burn out of control. Then came the years when my ex-husband learned how to control his temper for the most part (he still would yell occasionally) while I thought I had learned how to control it. Looking back, I didn’t master it at all. I basically learned not to care anymore and walk away fuming instead of unleashing a nasty attitude on someone. So I guess that could be called forward progress.

Such irony for one who loves control to lose hers so quickly.