Nonviolence does not mean we do not react. 

It means we do not react with more violence. 

In being nonviolent, we are not indifferent. We proactively engage in finding solutions to underlying problems.And most of the time, they concern everyday situations.

If a flicker of displeasure stirs within us when the phone rings or when someone interrupts us, that flicker is an ember for violence. It is a seed for future conflict, and we just planted it deep within us. It will combine with other such seeds and together they will grow stronger.

If we can manage to reduce this preoccupation with ourselves and what we are doing, this self-absorption, the barriers we erect between self and others will come down. We will realize that the underlying problem, which caused our ire to rise, was our viewing what we were doing as more important than the other person's activity.

Having found our underlying problem—self-absorption—we will be in a much better frame of mind to not have that flicker of displeasure the next time we are interrupted.