There is a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that we love, on Main Street just north of the LIE.  A few years ago, during some very vexing days, when we sat down to eat there I was struck by an aphorism under the glass my menu had been covering:

Remain soft-spoken and forgiving, even when reason is on your side.

I copied it in Chinese with my brush pen and the waitress, like a beautiful deer trying to make herself understood in human language, smiled happily and praised my calligraphy.   I told her I write Chinese the way a parrot speaks, but she was undeterred, pointed to each character, trying to explain its deeper meaning.   I left the restaurant feeling I’d learned something important to remember.  I rewrote the phrase many times over the next few days.

Yesterday, in the midst of new vexations, which grow like weeds in most of our gardens, this was under the glass where I sat:

When doing something, instead of worrying or being vexed about it, we should just be mindful.

A reminder:  we cannot change what is happening in this troubling world while we work:  better than vexation is careful attention to doing the work as well as we can.