Mastering our Emotions

On the spiritual page of the Catholic Times the columnist gives us a humorous story with a worthwhile message. One of the members in his religious community had a commitment in the city and arrived at his destination 40 minutes early, and  wondered what to do. He  saw an invitation to give blood nearby, and felt that would be a good  place to be of service and await his appointment.

He entered the building and after signing in, was  told to go to a cot and lie down and wait for the nurse. While lying down, he  began to open and close his fist  to enable the blood to flow quickly so as to quicken the process.

When the nurse arrived at the cot she excitedly said: "wow that is real good looking." Hearing those words the priest was embarrassed and laughing:  "I am not  so bad looking, you say, I have heard that often, ha, ha, ha!"  The nurse not knowing what to say: "I am not talking about your face, but the vein, which is very distinct and easy to see!" 

His faced flushed, embarrassed, he figured everybody was laughing at him. The nurse began drawing the blood and left.  He had only one thought, and that was to get out of there as soon as possible. He  continued to clench and open his fist to hasten the process.  

After doing this for a short period of time he heard a 'pi-pi' and the nurse came rushing to his cot and was surprised to see how quick the blood was drawn. She took the needle out, and replaced it with a sterilized  cotton pad.  She told him that he was not to leave, to drink some water, and rest for awhile. He was still overcome with the embarrassment he felt when he began giving the blood.

"I have a important meeting and will need to leave." The priest stubbornly did as he said, got up from the cot, put on his shoes and left. As soon as he opened the door and breathed in some fresh air, with a sigh of relief, he fainted. He doesn't know how long he was unconscious but he ended up on the cot in which he gave blood and the nurse, a doctor, and all those  who were waiting to give blood where gazing at him. It was the first time in his life that he wanted to die. 

Whenever he hears the word blood donation all these thought come back to him. The columnist concludes that after giving blood we need to follow instructions, but a bigger moral, and a more important lesson, would be to welcome the embarrassments in life, they are opportunities in mastering our emotions, which often enslave us, and cause much harm to ourselves and others.