Anyone who knows me knows I despise being even remotely involved in a petty altercation. Every introverted cell in my body detests the idea of having to resort to being confrontational. Hell, just thinking about it drapes my bare soul in a Snuggie of ambivalence.

Nonetheless, I was recently involved in a rather trivial exchange. This particular altercation however, ultimately did a lot more good than harm. It was what I needed to get my priorities back in order.

You see, I needed this altercation to bring me out of my stupor. For a while now I feel as if I’ve been drifting by. I’ve been riding the glistening waves of spontaneity and in the process, gradually allowing my goals and art to sink to the ocean’s bottom.

So take today’s post as the return of my gear-focused, goal-oriented self. The executioner has been revived and all it took was one, early Friday morning.

EARLIER…

Having already ironed my work clothes 2 nights ago, I was more than prepared to end the week on a strong note. Unfortunately, I fell asleep before I got the chance to shower at night.

[It’s a habit I recently reinforced because it saves me a ton of time in the morning and gives me the opportunity to participate in other things. Namely, meditation and catching a few extra z’s.]

And of course, there’s no early-morning, bathroom traffic. There’s barely any noise polluting the atmosphere. And the water just feels more serene on my skin at night. However, today was an entirely different story.

Today was the day I battle my way into the restroom. Literally.

Grabbing all my necessities, I charged full-steam ahead to the eastern bathroom. I was praying that my grand-aunt Rudy hadn’t already shamble her way in there, under the excuse of having to bathe right at this very moment.

So, before bursting through the bathroom door Royal Bahamas Defense Force style, I decided to check her room opposite the bathroom to confirm her whereabouts. To my dismay, she was gone and already halfway in the bathroom.

Shaking my head, I knew that she stood in the way of me being punctual. Admittingly, anyone who knows me knows being “on-time” is a perennial struggle of mine – especially my best friends.

[And my tardiness is never intentional, nor do I automatically expect them or others to just accept it for what it is. It’s just one of those things I have to continue to work on.]

Like I was saying though, she was a stumbling block – a hinderance that had to be neutralized. And before any of you come for me because she technically was in there first, take into account that she has no job (by choice) and stays home all-day.

With that said, I spin around and meet her eyes locked on me in an agitated sense. I ask her in a familiarly bold manner, “Are you in or out of the bathroom? I have work to go to.”

So instead of replying like an actual human being, she takes the moon cricket approach. Cutting her eyes, sucking her teeth, and slamming the door shut, she successfully ran up my vexation. Without so much as a second thought, I thundered the door back open and restated my question in a fit of rage.

“You bathing now or no, cause I have work to go to and you’re home all day. You literally have the entire day to bathe!”, I opined reasonably. Even though I know her kind isn’t very receptive to logic.

“Oh, you need to stop acting so stupid! Go down to the other bathroom or something”, she finally retorts in a defensive tone.

Mind you, I could have waited. But that would have been a 30-40 minute wait. And the other bathroom isn’t in its prime condition, we both knew this. We both knew that I’ve been using THIS SAME bathroom for the past 2 months. We both know that at around 6:25AM I would be making my way to THIS SAME bathroom to shower. So why are you deliberately getting in my way?

“I want bathe my skin man! What happen to you?”, she continues whining.

I felt my locs becoming erect, glistening in a golden hue. She was just milliseconds away from getting Tenkaichi Budokai’d from here to planet Namek (DragonBall Z Reference). But being the young, well-mannered sophisticate I am, I strayed from using violence.

NOT.

I swung the restroom door wide-open, and beat on it like the last goat-skinned drum. Then I loudly declared, “GET OUT THIS BATHROOM MAN! I GOING TO SHOWER! YOU HAVE NO WHERE IMPORTANT TO BE! I USING THIS BATHROOM FIRST! GO!”

Like a scolded child, she rustled up her belongings and vanished. I had resolved this altercation by standing my ground. It was all over. Or so I thought…

While getting my shower on, I hear an uproar just outside the bathroom window. I peer my crane-like neck at the right angle to uncover the source. Not surprisingly, Rudy had gone to her sister and basically told her that I had threatened her and was acting like a madman.

And I mean….., she isn’t entirely wrong. But hey, I really needed to get in there. Rudy being the theatre queen she is, bursts into a frantic wail. “I don’t know what wrong with Terran. You better stop hya!”

Feeling more so amused than threatened, I shove my head out the window and belt back at her, “AND WHAT YOU GUH DO?! Do I need to come out this bathroom?”

Rest assured, the ranting fizzled out and I did not have to come out the shower, sudsy and ballistic. I could hae though, but I chose not to. When I got back to my room, I took a moment to mull the entire altercation over in my mind and realized it wasn’t worth it.

In fact, the whole thing brought me back to the point where I remembered why I’m pushing so hard in everything I do. It’s because I want out of this place. Why at 21 am I arguing with a relic of an old lady to use the shower? It’s asinine. So in that moment of reflection, I remembered that I deserve much better than this and that in order to move onto better, I have to buckle-down and work.

And so Insighters, I let the entire altercation die out. I harbored no hard feelings and even made the necessary adjustments in my routine to ensure it doesn’t happen again moving forward. I practiced proactivity, maturity, and self-control. And more importantly, I got my drive back. So in essence, I won the battle and placed myself back on track to winning the war.

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