What if we could look at things from different angles before making a judgement? What if we could naturally open our minds to the possibilities that surround every moment. Imagine that we know the teller at the bank and we know that her daughter is very ill, or the girl at the cash register her mother is in the hospital, or the driver that just went by you so fast is on his way to meet his father who just fell. These things may or may not be true, however, our first reactions are always the worst, we take things personally and then create a negative pattern. What if we just approached every situation with compassion? How much better would we feel? How much support and kindness could we spread out into the world without really expending more energy? For me, the energy to be upset and aggravated is the same amount of energy that we would expend being compassionate and kind.
How would you react to a teller at the bank who was slow or non-cooperative if you knew she was going through something difficult? Would you have time to cheer her up? Could you be patient and understanding, even gracious when it was your turn? Why is it so difficult for us to come from a positive place right from the start? We are the customer, therefore, we need better service, but they are a human and they might be going through a human difficulty. It is deeper than this and this is where it all gets mixed up.
We are always in a hurry, not in the moment, so we don’t even notice the bags under their eyes or worse the red bloodshot eyes from crying. Our life is not in order and now it is their fault. We need someone to blame for being late and disorganized. But, ultimately we did not leave time for the shopping or the bank. So, it is actually our fault, so now we start with the bad conversation with ourselves. What if it just is. It is an “isness” as Derek Rydell would say. I am late, I did not organize my day, the teller is slow because she is having a tragedy, we are all here together. Tomorrow I will better organize myself, today I will be kind to the teller. It seems so easy, and yet it is not. Now that we think about it this way it will be easy.
It was just a change of perspective.
Have a great day and I hope this benefits you in some way.
Nancy