Things were not going well. It was one of those situations where no matter what you say, it ended up being heard the wrong way.
Since I first saw the person that day, everything I did was wrong. The other person was convinced they were right and was clearly becoming very upset with me. It looked like there was no end in sight, that the day was going to be extremely unpleasant. For both of us.
And then it hit me.
Wow! This was a wonderful opportunity to work on my paramita of patience. This wasn't a bad situation, it was a good one!
And with that I smiled. And thought "Thank you."