Protecting My Peace at Work
by: Ulysses Ybiernas ♦ May 3, 2013
A personal reflection on a difficult customer service encounter, exploring emotional restraint, dignity under pressure, and the conscious choice to protect one’s peace in the workplace.
My days at work continue to move forward one after another, regardless of what challenges arise. Most of the time, I manage to stay steady, simply doing my job and pushing through whatever comes my way. But there are moments that catch me off guard, moments that linger longer than they should.
Today, I dealt with a customer who came in carrying more than just frustration. It spilled out in the way she spoke, sharp, dismissive, as if I did not matter as a person. I felt it immediately: that familiar sting when someone looks at you as though you are under them.
For a brief moment, I tried to remain patient and respond in kind, but in my impatience, I almost defended myself with the same harshness that was thrown at me.
But thank goodness, I didn’t.
Not because I did not feel it, but because I knew it would not solve anything. Meeting anger with anger only makes the situation heavier, and I have learned that some battles are not worth carrying beyond the moment.
Still, it made me reflect.
It is strange how money or status can sometimes change the way people treat others. Some forget that there is a human being on the other side, someone who gets tired too, who struggles, who is simply trying to get through the day like everyone else.
I saw that clearly in her, and honestly, it was difficult not to take it personally.
But I have also learned something important about myself: I cannot afford to let other people’s worst moments become my own burden.
Life already carries enough weight without collecting additional ones from strangers. If I hold on to their anger, it does not stay with them, it grows within me. And in the end, I am the one who suffers for it.
So I let it go.
Not because it did not matter, but because I matter too, enough to protect my own peace.
I am beginning to understand that winning is not about having the last word or proving someone wrong in the moment. It is about being able to go home at the end of the day without heaviness in your heart.
It is about waking up the next morning without bitterness quietly following you.
And maybe that is what peace really is, not something that simply happens, but something you choose, especially when choosing it is hardest.
“Not every harsh word deserves a response, and not every conflict requires a battle. Sometimes, the greatest strength is choosing peace, walking away from anger while keeping your heart untouched by the noise of others.”
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