02/28/2026
When Emotions Take the Driver’s Seat
A small phone call recently taught me a big lesson about myself.
I noticed an unexpected roaming charge on my mobile bill after switching plans — one I was certain was covered. To make it worse, I’d already called customer service twice with no answer. By the third call, my frustration had quietly been building for days.
This time, a representative answered — patient, polite, and located outside of Canada. As I explained my situation, he calmly said: “Please calm down for five minutes.”
My first reaction? I felt dismissed.
But then I paused.
What if my tone — shaped by stress, expectation, and two failed attempts — was coming across far more aggressively than I intended? What feels like sincere self-expression in one culture can sound confrontational in another. He wasn’t dismissing me. He was trying to help me.
That short exchange became a mirror.
How often do our emotions — fuelled by assumptions and unmet expectations — quietly spill onto the people around us? How often do we assume our way of expressing frustration is simply “normal,” without considering how it lands across cultures, languages, or contexts?
Emotions are real and valid. They signal that something matters to us. But unmanaged, they can distort our perception, cloud our judgment, and unintentionally hurt others.
I was reminded of Psalm 42:5 — “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Put your hope in God.”
External circumstances will always surprise us. Bills. Delays. Misunderstandings. But our internal posture — humility, awareness, emotional regulation — shapes the outcome far more than the situation itself ever will.
In a global world, emotional intelligence and cultural intelligence go hand in hand.
Pause. Reflect. Clarify. Then speak.
Sometimes five minutes of calm truly can change the entire conversation.
What’s helped you become more aware of how your emotions affect the people around you? I’d love to hear your experience.
