It was a day when the sun shone brightly. The chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves caused by a gentle breeze were audible. All of this filled one’s heart with peace. However, unfortunately, storms were raging within Nilya, and a thunderous day was prevailing. She was pedaling her bike with frustration, turning the pedals repeatedly. She was almost going as fast as the wind, and she continued muttering as the events replayed in her mind. It was clear that today wasn’t her day. “Breathe in, breathe out. In, out,” she mumbled to herself.
“I’m calm. I’m calm, absolutely and absolutely calm!” she reassured herself. Then, she erupted again, “Oh! I’m not calm at all. This child is going to drive me insane!” As she rode, her anger seemed to increase with the length of the road. Her morale had been ruined by such an incident, and she was also angry at herself for being so affected by it. Why had she dwelled on it so much?
She rushed home, leaving her bicycle behind. When she entered the house, no one was around. To calm herself down, she went to her friend’s side and shared her troubles with a glass of water in hand. There, Colorful was waiting for her on the balcony. She offered her the water and slowly joined her.
They stood in silence for a while. Renkli (Colorful) waited for Nilya to collect herself a little. Nilya wasn’t a difficult girl to understand. Her facial expressions would give her away, and her inner feelings would become evident immediately.
Finally, Renkli initiated the conversation: “Come on, spill it out! Why did you get so upset?”
Nilya turned slowly to Renkli. Her question led Nilya to remember the events of the day, and she let out a sigh.
“I’m tired, Renkli! I’m really tired! What’s going to happen with these people’s attitudes?” she said and gazed at the sky. Living abroad could be quite challenging sometimes.
Due to things she had heard in recent days, Renkli asked, “This girl again?” When Nilya had a problem, she would turn to Renkli. It was true that Renkli gave excellent advice.
Nilya nodded slightly, and began to recount the events at work that had upset her.
This summer, Nilya was working at a playground. There was a 10-year-old girl at her workplace who was being unpleasant towards her. Initially, there had been a minor disagreement among the children, and while Nilya was trying to make peace, the girl had said some unpleasant things to her. Nilya had tried not to be affected by it too much and had dismissed it with an “It’s not important.” On another day, while playing a game at a table with the same girl, she had continued to bother Nilya. Due to her job, she didn’t have the luxury to respond. She had calmed herself down by thinking, “She’s younger, maybe she doesn’t know.” However, today’s events were the last straw.
The same girl had wanted to play a game with another staff member, but when she declined, Nilya kindly offered, “I can play.” They started drawing lines on paper to play Xs and Os. After Nilya won the first round, the girl had asked her to close her eyes and then she did something with the paper. Naturally, Nilya understood what she had done from the crumpled paper. The girl had added an extra line and folded the paper to conceal it. She would use that extra line if necessary to win the game. It was predictable.
Nilya had been defeated again, and they had played a few more times. Every time, the girl would tell Nilya to close her eyes, and she would repeat the same action. Until the final round, she hadn’t restored the paper to its previous state to reveal the cheat. Finally, when Nilya told her that she knew, the girl accused her of cheating, saying, “You cheated! I told you to close your eyes.” This was a really heavy accusation for Nilya. She defended herself gracefully by saying, “No, I didn’t cheat. I guessed.” But the girl started accusing her of cheating and saying, “No, you cheated.”
“No, I guessed,” she had continued her defense eloquently.
“I’ll tell everyone. No one will play with you!” the girl had said before storming off. Okay, the girl might not be very mature, but she had crossed the line.
Nilya tried to forget what had happened throughout the day. She decided to swallow her feelings and treat everyone kindly. She had to do her job excellently!
As her shift ended, on her way to her bicycle, she saw the girl and her friend. “See you later!” she said, trying to show goodwill. But the response she heard struck her like a lightning bolt.
“See you later? Never!” Could she have really said that?
She walked past the girl without reacting. Along the road, these words kept replaying in her mind, and her anger grew with each repetition.
“This is just too much!” she complained. During the time she dealt with children, she had realized how important good manners were. She recounted what had happened to Renkli and said, “It’s like this! I had a difficult day.”
Now, it was Renkli’s turn to speak. She had a lot to learn from her. “Oh, I thought it was something!” Renkli dismissed the incident, surprising Nilya. She wasn’t expecting this reaction.
“What?”
“You’re getting angry over nothing, Nilya. We must find a solution to this anger problem!” She really got angry quickly.
“Think about it, what’s the smartest thing to do in this situation?”
“To never talk to that girl again and give her a dirty look if I see her!” she replied. Renkli immediately intervened, “I’m assuming you didn’t say that. You’re not that kind of person! Don’t you remember the compassion that our Prophet (peace be upon him) showed even when he faced insults?”
These words deeply affected Nilya. Renkli gave her some time to think.
“Do you understand now why you can’t act that way?” Renkli continued, and Nilya nodded.
Never forget that you’re here to set an example! Even if people don’t display behaviors worthy of humanity, continue to approach them with kindness!” Renkli continued giving advice, “It doesn’t matter if it’s a child or an adult. You might encounter people like them who don’t consider the consequences of their actions. Think of our Prophet and his attitude at that moment. And sometimes, people will regret what they’ve done.”
When she finished, the sound of the door opening was heard.
“You’re right, Renkli! You’re absolutely right! Thank you for enlightening me, as usual,” she said, as her mother’s voice came from the balcony door: “Are you lost in conversation with that flower again?”
“Mom, Renkli isn’t an ordinary flower. She’s a very valuable friend who gives me life lessons,” Nilya defended her colorful hyacinths. Standing up and inhaling the scent of the colorful flowers in the black pot, she said, “Renkli is not just any flower. She’s a very valuable friend who gives me life lessons.”
(Note: “Renkli” means “colorful” in Turkish, and it’s used as a name in the story.)
