Sha-la-la-la, shame on you

I'm brewing a cup of tea, musing over a few people I know, thinking of things I would like to do to let them know how I feel about them and their life decisions.  The "what to do" has reached the level of me visualizing tearing pictures of them into little tiny pieces.  This is totally not mature, totally not rational, the idea that their life is their life and it's none of my responsibility/business is totally irrelevant, and the rational/mature side of me is shaking it's head, saying "tut, tut, shame on you."  But I'm finding strange pleasure in thinking this and I'm not sure I like that.  See, over the past few months I have been trying to "rise above" and mind my own business, love people but keep my head about it, and make firm, calm, fair decisions about the emotional state I'm in and the emotions I choose to show.  Do you know how hard that is once you start trying to do it consistently?  It's so hard I feel like I'm going backwards instead of forwards with it.  Maybe I only feel that way because I'm now paying attention to things.  Maybe I'm being thrown a curve ball to see how much I truly want this.  (The latter I doubt; I try hard not to think of life this way, but still.)  But whatever the reason, I know I'm better than this so why do certain insignificant things get to me like this?

Some light got shed on this, or at least a new way of thinking, at the conference I was at last weekend.  It was a wonderful trip with the fabulous co-workers I'll soon be around lots and lots to the neighboring state's preschool teacher convention.  (Those ladies can sing, I'll tell you, but I guess that could go without saying.  They are all pre-school teachers and everyone knows we sing all the time.  But I digress...)  Several of the sessions I chose to go to were about the emotional states and what teachers/parents could do about them and one quote struck me.  It didn't talk to me totally as a pre-school teacher but did more as an adult.  It's as follows:

"Our emotions will manifest, or communicate, our character, our value system, the lies, or the truth, that we've based our life on."           Dr. Robert Roberts, Spiritual Emotions

So what to think?  Am I feeling this way because I'm a closet control freak or is it because I can't stand making mistakes (ah, the perfectionist in me, eh?) thus when I see other people doing things that are 85% of the time considered by the experts to be "mistakes" I have a reaction?  On the other hand, should I stop being so self-centered about all this and turn the quote on these people that aggravate me and think "Hmm, they are feeling guilty and trying to hide their actions, thus the behavior and subsequent actions" ?  Either way, it's something to think about.  Am I really getting the quote at all?  Either way, this quote has me thinking and trying to listen to what emotional trigger I have going off so I can see what part of my mind is trying to talk to me instead of trying to change my emotional reaction to something more p.c.

So no conclusions yet but hopefully I keep truly moving forward instead of back in this endeavor.  Just wanted to share the quote and story.  My tea is ready and I'm looking forward to it.