Have you ever been so upset at someone to the point of losing control? Have you ever get so mad at someone that you turned into a completely different person you never knew existed? Has someone ever pushed your buttons?

For me, the answers were yes, yes, and yes. I had a heated argument this past week with someone I am very close with. I won’t go into detail of what the argument was, who was right, and what was said. All I can tell is that I completely lost it in the heat of the moment. I turned into a completely different person and it wasn’t a nice one. Things were said that should not have been said. The whole event caused quite a stir in my relationship with that person. It also affected my interaction with those unfortunate enough to witness it. The whole thing was a mess, to say the least.

It was only after a few days had passed that I was able to think back on it without getting angry. Time always helps. Despite what the other person did and said that were unjustly and wrong, I had no excuse in losing it. If only I could take back what was said. If only there was a time machine. If only I was a better person. If only…

From reading the biography of Benjamin Franklin, I learned that he often wrote an angry letter to someone who had wronged him but never sent it. The process of venting it out on paper was more than enough to free him from anger. Someone once said that even though a person had pushed our buttons, they were still “our” buttons. We do have control over them. We can choose how to respond.

As long as there are people, there will always be someone who will rub us the wrong way. There will always be someone who will push our buttons, whether accidentally or intentionally. And as long as we cannot change other people (Oh how I tried…), the only thing we can do is to change ourselves. We can gain control back by choosing not to respond to the stimulus. We can “un-push” the buttons. I know, I know… it’s easier said than done. Oh how I’ve tried and fail again on this. But the only way to succeed is to try. So the next time someone pushes my buttons, I will try to remember to “un-push” it and just walk away.

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Some people like to read. Some people like to exercise. Some like to meditate. For me, I like to shop. Not just any shopping though, I like bargain hunting. Finding things for a really “cheap” price is like finding treasure for me. I feel so good whenever I find a great deal!

To start this blog back up again, I needed materials to work with. I went to a used book store (notice the word “used”, what a cheap *&@%!). The books there are priced at about half the regular price. Most items are hardly read at all and are in excellent condition. They even have brand new older books for sale there. I browsed around and found some books on inspirational quotes and stories. There is also a clearance section in the back where items are marked down, and I mean way down. After perusing through the many titles on the shelf, my eyes caught this one item. It was a biography on Benjamin Franklin by Edmund S. Morgan, a Professor of History at Yale University. I have heard over and over again about Ben Franklin in the past and have always wanted to read both a biography and also some of his famous writings. This book was on the New York Times Bests Seller list and was on sale for $1.00!

So there I was, gloating all the way home. To me, it felt like I had just won an Olympic gold medal! It’s amazing how silly little things in life can make us so happy. In our society, we are conditioned to associate happiness with big events in life, like meeting the love of your life, getting a dream job, or traveling around the world. Many times, we fail to see that happiness doesn’t have to be just on special occasions. It can be found anywhere and anytime, as long as we look for it. Even in the midst of the direst situations, there is always something to gain, even though we may not realize it at the time. Imagine what it would be like if we were to be happy, very happy, and quite often, almost all the time. Got a used book store nearby?

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Dear Readers,
This is the first post since my last one in June 2008. There were many reasons for my absence over this past year. One was the career pursue that took a lot of focus. Another was the time I could spend on thinking and preparing for the blog. In any case, I have no excuse. I received an email earlier this month (Jan 2010). It was a reminder from my web hosting company about the expiration of the web hosting service. It has been two years since I first started isuccessblog.com and the service plan will be expiring at the end of the month. A decision had to be made. Either I could let the service plan expire and put this project into the pile of things I could have done better. Or, I could restart the blog and put in some efforts to really make a difference with this website, although, the biggest difference would be for my own personal growth. I spent some time pondering what to do. At the end, I chose the latter and decided to give it another effort to really revive this blog again. So, here we go. No promises on where this will lead and how far we’ll go. One thing I know though… it will be quite a ride… and we will definitely learn from one another along the way for sure.
Yours,
iSuccessBlog.com

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