Letting go...

... of pointless rage.

I'm trying to give up on getting frustrated at things that are just going to happen. Here are my 4 things:

1. I've been going on a lot of hikes. The trail is usually only wide enough for 1 person, though 2 can squeeze past each other. I often would move to the side and let the other people pass, and like 1 in 20 times they would say thank you. Man did that annoy me. I tried sarcastically saying you're welcome but that didn't really work. Finally I realized that people just don't thank you for moving out of their way. So I decided to rudely squeeze past them if I wasn't tired, or let them by with no expectation of a thank you if I was tired. It totally worked!

2. This one stop-light on the way to Taichung is really long- like 90 seconds- and there are numbers that count it down so you know how long it is. And if I started plotting when I was still 5 minutes away I could hit the lights right, then speed really fast when I got near it, and squeak by on the yellow. And it stressed me out so much. Finally I decided to plan on hitting that light red, and that it will take me 90 extra seconds ot get to Taichung. So much less stress.

3. Miss Crazy-Pants is still crazy. She still asks me nosy and complicated questions as I wait for the elevator and she paces the hallway. At first I tried to view it as an opportunity to practice my Chinese, but she still annoyed me. So now whatever she says to me, I make a comment about the weather. It's great. No more annoyance.

4. The Taiwanese Grandma. She spends most of her time on the bench in front of my apartment building and enjoys engaging me in conversation. Except she only speaks Taiwanese. I continually tell her I'm sorry but I only speak Mandarin, and stew about the fact that it's a lot easier for her to learn Mandarin than it is for me, but I feel bad because unlike Miss Crazy-Pants she is very nice. So now I tell her, in Mandarin, where I'm going when I'm leaving the building. She reacts very positively to this. Yay!

I still have no been able to let go of my anger at the crazy bike-riding on the bike paths. Maybe someday.