It's a thin line between love and hate

Another idea I have been letting ruminate in my mind is the concept of not worrying about a situation and instead focusing on my reaction to it. At times I can be an intense person. I  jump moods and feelings like monkeys swing from branch to branch.

There is not much in Shanghai that I have not experienced as a foreigner, so nothing should come as a surprise. I know people cut in line, people will cheat me simply because I'm a foreigner, people push their way onto the subway, people don't wait for you to get off the elevator and just crowd the entrance, people will run you over because they don't know or don't care about traffic laws. I know all of this so why am I still getting angry? I really don't know the answer. I do know, however, that all that stress just isn't healthy.

I am trying to change how I react to things. It really doesn't matter if I feel their behavior is uncivil or barbaric. All of that is unhealthy and peripheral to how I should react. I am trying to just smile and be like water. Just flow an not let too many things bother me because if I cannot control  it then it is not worth the toll of negative emotions on my body.

So...next time I'm walking on the side walk and I see three girls locked arm in arm or when a bunch of people are standing in front of the elevator when I'm getting off I wont plow through them...well, maybe I will, but I will accept it that it is just the nature of living in a modern city with people who are still catching up to the development (backhanded comment? Yes, a little, but an honest evaluation)

There really is a thin line between love and hate. I love and hate you Shanghai.