Do You Have Tantrums?

We tend to think that only kids have tantrums. Kids kick and scream or the really brave ones hold their breath. Now, adults don not do such things do they?

Years ago I was under our Dodge van, lovingly named "the Silver-Bullet." The Silver-Bullet had a transmission problem, and I had finally asked a mechanic friend of mine to help me with it. We got right to work dismantling everything to remove the transmission, and bang! My wrench slipped and I cut my hand on some sharp thing. No, I didn't swear, but I did grunt loudly and repeatedly hit the tire with my wrench.

I could feel my friend looking at me, then he asked if I felt better after all that. Of course I did. I let off a little steam, and that felt great. He then asked if I was going to get back to work or was I going to just keep making a racket.

I'll bet you have had, shall we say, ADULT TANTRUMS. We may not kick and scream like a two-year old, but we do as, Webster calls it, "have a bit of bad temper" occasionally.

Look, we all get frustrated, feel tired, wear down under stress, and/or get overwhelmed by life's circumstances. These things can send us straight into a tantrum, but we want to be good examples, right?

There have been times that I am able to sense my blood boiling. That's the time to evaluate. Count to three, or ten, or twenty-five, or whatever. Why am I feeling this? Is there good solution to the problem. Am I restraining from falsely blaming someone for the problem. The Bible says that we fight because we don't get our way. Is our way always necessary?
Self -control is what we adults try to force on our kids. Are we using it, too?

Click down on the comments to share good ways that you have learned to live and teach self-control.