I resolve to refrain from anger. 

Instead, I will develop patience and 

the compassion to see the suffering of others. 

“Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” The three witches in Macbeth were mixing a charm of terrible trouble by casting in poisoned entrails, eye of newt, toe of frog, and more.

We have our own messy hex of misery and strife, a recipe that includes annoyance, bitterness, outrage. Our life is not progressing well. Either we don’t get what we want, or we get what we don’t want. Nothing is complying with our wishes. And so we add wood to the fire and stir our cauldron of negative feelings, tossing in a dash of belligerence, a handful of aggression.

So engrossed are we in our emotional brew that we fail to realize that we’re choking on it and driving others away. The solution? Recognize others’ suffering as acutely as you discern your own. Be compassionate. And in the face of trying circumstances, patiently devote your energy to alleviating, not worsening, others’ suffering.