There's Nothing Personal going on Here...

I read an artical by Jane Smiley, author of the novel, Private Life, in the June 2010 Issue of Prevention Magazine, titled: It's Nothing Personal.

It is about her own personal experience of divorce from her husband and how she dealt with it. The circumstances were quite daunting...he left her for their dental hygienist of whom he said was the sexiest thing he had ever seen. WHOA...
They had a 4yr old son and huge mortgages.

She wrote:
"And the best thing anyone said to me was not 'I never trusted that guy' or 'He'll come back' or even 'you're a strong person you can handle this.'
It was 'THERE IS NOTHING PERSONAL GOING ON HERE.'
A precept, part of a Bhuddhist/Christian/New Age belief system."

When I read this, a bell went off in my mind...in my heart. I have heard slightly different variations on this theme, like, 'Don't place any value on it.' or 'Don't let it push your buttons.' But this was crystal clear as she further explained it.

She wrote, "This one sentence rang like a bell. 'There is nothing personal going on here.' The more I said it the more I savored it. 'There is nothing personal going on here-- my husband is acting out his own drama.' 'There is nothing personal going on here -- what is really happening is different from what I think is happening.' 'There is nothing personal going on here-- there is a larger pattern to my life than these fears.' 'There is nothing personal going on here -- but what is going on is worth contemplating."
YES, YES IT IS! Link to her article: http://prevention.coverleaf.com/prevention/201006?pg=146#pg146

I work in a Customer Service Call Center taking orders and helping people with their Travel needs. Sometimes, it is very challanging with some customers. After reading this article, I wrote this sentence on a post-it and placed it where I can see it all the time: 'There is nothing personal going on here.'
And it has been helpful, not only with customers, but with some of the people I work with, namely, Supervisors. One in particular who has been chasing me for a long time. He uses passive aggressive ways to get back at me. Tonight was such an event. I reacted and we had an open verbal disagreement in front of some of our co-workers. I yelled at him, "leave me alone...stop talking to me!" I was physically tired, we have been very busy, so that contributed to my being more susciptible to reacting emotionally.
After a bit, we stopped talking, at each other, and he finally left me alone.

As I sat there, I started to repeat this mantra over and over: 'There is nothing personal going on here, he is acting out his own drama.'

It calmed me down, and I was able to think rationally, and be proactive.

As Jane said, "this is a wiser way of understanding the people around you. And how they have their own passions, motivations, and histories, that sometimes(always)grip them in ways, that even they do not grasp -- ways you don't have to respond to automatically."

So this is helping me understand how I can stay cool, step back, and see my turmoil--whatever it may be-- detached--from a distance; that I can understand and handle, what comes at me, in my world, much better, when not taken, so personally.

When I remembered that 'there is nothing personal going on here', my anger subsided and I didn't have to be right... I apologized for yelling at him, in front of others. He was cool with that and we parted on a better note.

As Jane said,"When I remember there is nothing personal going on here, fear recedes. Anger recedes. Patience sets in, and like a reader, I get interested. What will happen next?"

Thank you Universe for leading me to Jane Smiley's Article... Thank You, Jane;)...
What WILL happen next?