“I was only trying to help, since talking to you clearly doesn’t help,” he replied, his voice tinged with a mix of surprise and frustration. Carl withdrew his hand from his bag and turned back around, feeling a combination of disbelief and exasperation. He wondered how anyone could be this rude.
Carl decided the best thing to do was to stay polite and keep to himself. He wanted to forget about the whole thing and just be the bigger person. Taking a deep breath in – a long, slow “pffffff” – he closed his eyes and let out a gentle “pfffffff” as he exhaled. He tried to remember what his mindfulness teacher had always said about letting go of things you can’t control. Just as he was starting to relax and let his thoughts drift – suddenly, his peaceful moment was shattered by a loud “thump” against his back. The sharp kick broke through his calm, abruptly pulling him back to the frustrating reality.