Yesterday I drove into downtown Portland at lunchtime to do some errand. I was driving behind a van that had a couple of bumper-stickers on the back. I love bumper stickers and was catching up to the van so I could read one. It said: "When everyone yogas the world will be a better place." A bumper sticker on the other side of the van read "Namaste." I was clearly following a yoga fanatic.
Just then, a mercedes pulled out in front of the van, causing the van to swerve. The van driver shouted angrily at the mercedes driver and shook his fist at him, clearly not practicing loving kindness. Oh, well.
When Mahatma Gandhi was asked what he thought of Western Civilization, his response was "I think it would be a good idea." I would add the addendum, as I am guilty of it nearly every day, that civil people everywhere would be a good idea. Starting now I'm going to practice kindness and see how it goes. I will try to think of one thing I can do every day to be kind in an unkind world. It may be more courteous driving. It may be doing the dishes at work. It may be sending somebody flowers unexpectedly. I don't know, but starting now I'm going to try it for a week. I'll let you know how it goes.....
2 comments:
Being kind to others costs us NOTHING! And the dividends are huge! It makes others feel good and make you feel even better! You have encouraged me...I will try to be kinder too!
This has been an interesting exercise for me.
There are two ways to look at this: you can be expressly kind, either to certain people or anonymously to others you may not even know OR you can do the best you can by just not being nasty. Absence of nastiness seems to be the the best I can do most of the time.
When it started raining a few days ago, it seemed that every street in Portland was clogged with cars; traffic jams all day long in some instances. It seems as if 100,000 new people arrived in town. My mechanic told me that when the weather is bad people who normally would ride their bikes, walk or take mass transportation use their cars which accounts for the traffic problems. Once I heard this (Oh! That makes sense!), I could relax and plan more time getting to and fro.
Can't say I've been very successful at overt kindness, but I do think about it everyday!
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