How To Tame Your Temper When You’re About To Lose It

Pause Before You Speak

So how do you manage to communicate calmly to your coworker (or spouse, or in-laws…) in the midst of your anger? Here’s the answer: force yourself to pause for a few seconds before you reply. That pause allows your will to catch up with your roiling emotions, so you can choose your words well. More important, if you’re a person of faith, it also gives God a chance to touch your heart and steer your reply before you forge ahead with guns blazing and cause casualties you’ll regret later.

So when you’re worried about your son’s progress in school and turn seven shades of upset because your husband didn’t agree to hire a tutor to help him, force yourself to pause and get your thoughts together before you speak. Think before you speak is one of the earliest lessons we teach our kids, and yet sometimes we forget it as adults. We need to relearn that skill, especially when it comes to those relationships that are most important to us.