Words Of "Bracha"

Today, someone showered a "blessing" on my head that I would more likely hear on the 1 train going from the West Side uptown to the Bronx or the C down to Penn station, spoken by one of the "bruthas" but not from the mouth of a yid-ben-yid in Eretz Yisrael.

What did I learn from the experience that you may want to use?

1] He is on a lot of pain. Happy people don't speak like that. Instead of being insulted - have mercy on his tortured soul.

2] I didn't take it personally. It had much more to do with him than it had to do with me. [It hurt a little I must admit, but not too much...]

3] If I was cursed - Hashem wanted me to be cursed. Shimi Ben Gera curses Dovid Hamelech and his reaction? השם אמר לו קלל. Hashem told him to curse. He has free choice but if he said it then I KNOW that it is from Hashem to me. If Dovid heard these words then this is what he had to hear.

4] The gemara [Shabbos 88b] says that one who is insulted and refrains from answering is zocheh to shine like the sun. Just like the moon complained that the sun and the moon can't share the throne and as a result the moon was made smaller and the sun shines brightly [Chullin 60], so the insulter becomes smaller and the insulted party becomes so much bigger.

5] Sweetest friends!! Don't take things to heart. Your job in this world is to do "tov" and not to worry what people are saying to you and about you.....

:-)