What Makes You Angry?

I have to admit, I'm not in the best of moods today...I'm angry at my world, because nobody seems to respect MY values.  This morning all the significant people in my world determined that they had issues that were more important to them than what was important to me!  (Have YOU ever had that happen to you? haha).  Now before, I invite you into my own little "pity party," I have to stop and ask myself, is this really something I should get angry about?  I mean, it's awfully selfish for me to feel like everybody around me ought to be on my agenda and my timetable, don't you think?  Hmmmm, I wonder if I ever make anyone else feel the same way that I've felt this morning?  I'm pretty sure I have, many times.

So, between you and me, what makes you angry?  And why?  When you think about it, it's really not the circumstances that are the culprit, but what they represent that means so much.  For example, it's not the appointment that means so much, but the value we place on time.  It's not whether we're first in line, but it's the value we place on fairness.  And it's not having to work extra hours beyond our regular schedule that upsets us as much as the value we place on being elsewhere, like with our family or friends.

If I'm not careful, I begin to see that, with my values, everything revolves just around me.

So, I'm thinking my anger is pretty selfish...petty,..and centered way too often on me.  When do I get angry about so many lost people dying everyday without Jesus?  When do I get angry about injustice as "those who have" abuse "those who don't?" When do I get angry that human rights, which I often take for granted, are refused to others by the "powers that be?"  The values these things represent are different, it seems to me, because they refuse to be selfish, but selfless...something I'm still seeking to learn and live out every day.

How about you?