3 Options

If something or someone is bothering you, you have 3 options:

1. Say something (or do something) to change it
2. Say nothing and make peace with it
3. Say nothing and stew about it

Options 1-2 are active and assertive and restore inner balance.

Option 3 is passive and breeds resentment.

If you're the kind of person that worries about bothering others, it's easy to forget about option 1. 

If you're the kind of person that takes action and expects results, it's easy to forget about option 2.

It's hard to imagine why we would ever want to choose option 3. And yet many smart people find ourselves there regularly.

If you end up there, it might be helpful to ask: what would it take for me to shift gears into 1 or 2?