Go To the Balcony
I read in a book on negotiation (Getting Past No) that, to control your emotions in a situation with intense differences, one must "go to the balcony." In short, act as if you are standing on a balcony above the situation watching as an observer...be detached from the emotion and self-interest of the moment and act for the objective good of the parties; find mutual interests, reconcile opposing interests as only one can who has little or no personal stake. But get out of the emotion of the moment and think with a broader and longer view.
Lord, help me control my anger, indeed, all my emotional responses and impulses, so that understanding may flow and guide me to act as you would act. Because I desire to be where you are, and to be doing the things you are doing.
Created 11 months ago
