Luigi's New Car Issues

                                                           Luigi's New Car

Luigi had been working hard and saving his money to buy a new car. He had already picked it out--a shiny, blue convertible.  He dreamt about how great it would be to own a car of his own and that dream spurred him on to work even harder.  When he had accumulated the cash, he put on his suit and tie, and went over to the auto dealer to pick up the car.  Luigi proudly handed over the cash--no financing for him! It was worth all the hard work. He would drive over to his buddy Giuseppe's house to show off his new purchase.  As he drove out of the showroom he felt like a million dollars.

But as he rolled down the street, he ran into trouble. He heard a thump, thump, pulled over, and stopped the car.   Sure enough, a flat. With a grumpy "Mamma Mia" he took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work changing the flat.  Wiping his hands on the hanky he had in his pocket, he got back in the car and drove on.  As he stopped at the traffic light, a pretty woman in the next lane gave him a big, admiring, smile.   Boy, did that make Luigi feel good again.  Off he zoomed to Giuseppe's house.  But wait, what's that ahead?  A train?  What a line!  He waited while the freight kept moving past, frustrated and fidgeting.  He uttered another "Mamma Mia" and growled within himself.  When the train finally passed, he moved on, then turned down the lane to Giuseppe's house.  The sun was shining and the birds singing and Luigi was happy again--but not for long.  Splash, he hadn't noticed that puddle.  With mud all over the car and some of it in the convertible, he had just about had it.  With another disgusted, Mamma Mia, he turned around and went to the car wash.

Luigi finally did reach his friend Giuseppe's house and got a warm welcome.  It's not the destination I want to talk about though.  It's the trip!  All along the way, what was happening to Luigi's emotions?  He was up, he was down, up again, down again.  What was happening to him was dictating his emotional state.  He wasn't in control of his emotions--he was the effect of everything happening around him. 

 Let's face it, we're living in a world with a lot happening around us and to us.  We get bad service, get mistreated, lied to, blamed, whatever. We see havoc on the news, natural disasters, wars and rumors of wars. Do we really have to take all that negativity into our chest, embrace it and make it your own?  Or can we stand back from it and be an observer, maintaining some sense of serenity within ourselves?  Would we want to be in the hands of a doctor who reacted emotionally to every disaster or in the hands of one who maintained his cool under pressure?

Below are two strings, both the same length. One is stretched straight across the background. The other goes up and down and is shorter across the background.  Could that emotional up and down affect our health and shorten our life?