Only Trust Your : Heart :
Posted: March 17, 2015 Filed under: Kindness, Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Bicycle Commuting, Bliss, community, Commuting, cycling, harmony, Identity, image, kindness, meditation, Omaha, Seva, yoga, Zen 11 CommentsIt’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit-
Have you ever stopped at a “stop walk” when there’s no traffic? Waiting patiently for the signal to indicate its safe to cross the street, when out of seemingly nowhere, another almond chai tea latte sporting pedestrian comes along and proceeds to saunter on through? Do you lament, “I’m a moron for waiting!” Or do you think out-loud, “Try not to get run over you jack ass!” These benign and tedious social interactions, offer us a glimpse into our inner “moral police,” and how we spend more time defending our own egos than actually enjoying this inspiring moment in time.
I don’t believe we are abandoning morals in our society as a whole. We still lean heavily on moral arguments to justify our daily behavior (topic for another day … ), although we tend to prop ourselves up on “morals” more randomly, pulling out whatever moral code serves our interests best in any given situation. So how do we begin to tie in morality, which is a painfully tedious and a woefully self-serving discussion. With mindfulness, harmony and surrendering to the moment? Or, simply being?
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What ever happened to here-and-now relational responsiveness in our society? Actions that are open-hearted, sympathetic, and not embedded in rigid ideas of the self, and our “personal interest?” Helping the elderly to cross a street or carrying their groceries to the car? Holding a random door open for someone? Waiting at a cross walk, and sharing a smile with the driver, before you both carry on? Its amazing what we can achieve as a society when people go out of their way to help one another with no thought of self-advantage.
Daily Meditation:
Instead of being propelled by an outside force – Morality – Ego – Self Advantage … Allow your heart and spirit to propel you gently this morning.
CultFit 
“another almond chai tea latte sporting pedestrian comes along” – that is so funny! Thanks for making me laugh (and think).
To indicate another means I “might” of been enjoying one as well 😉
This is a rather deep and involved discussion that I feel is deeply important in today’s world … Be well this morning and please take care 🙂
The cross walk example hits home for me. I Iive near a very busy intersection, and you can turn right on red in my state. I have stopped counting the cars that honk at me for NOT crossing when they think I should instead of waiting for the walk sign. Being a former NYC teacher who had to cross avenues with 6-8 year olds, I respect the cross walk. I love it when Americans visit Germany and are shocked, shocked! at being reprimanded and ticketed for jaywalking.
That’s one thing I miss about living in the UK and spending a fair amount of time traveling in Germany – for the most part, orderly and fluid intersections. Wish i could say the same for back here in good ‘old ‘Murica!
I’m at home this morning nursing soreness from overdoing my activities last week (cycling–it was worth it?) and thinking about yesterday’s stop at Valentino’s for some ice (it was 90) using the pretext of buying garlic cheese bread. The gal behind the counter had the most adorable freckles, a blanket across her nose and cheeks. Taller than me, she had her auburn hair tied back behind her mandatory visor. In the time that I waited for my order, she answered the phone twice, helped another customer, sliced pizzas and boxed them, and prepared three other orders of garlic cheese bread. I bet I only waited 5 minutes. She handed me the rolls with a big smile and I was overcome by how much she made me smile, reminding me of my sister. I blurted out, “Do you know you are incredibly adorable? You remind me so much of my sister I just want to hug you.” I smiled, and her stressed composure broke a little and she smiled and said, “Thank you so much!”
I left and felt so much better about my day. My goal, anytime I purchase something, is to try to make the person behind the counter smile (or even laugh). I have rarely not accomplished my mission, one that I have had for more than 20 years.
We never know what kind of day the other person is having. They greet so many people, pass items over the laser-reader, take money, hand out receipts. I try to break that monotony, by living in the moment and appreciating even that simple experience.
I wish I could extend that out far beyond the counter when I am buying something. Your post has made me want to work on that more.
[I did bake cookies for my class on two occasions this year because their behavior during a guest speaker and their recent paper scores were exemplary–I don’t think that’d happened for them before!]
Spread Joy and Love, not Hate and Anger. Wish I could live this all the time
You do live this all the time, it shows when we meet – the warmth and kindness in your voice and the way in which your present yourself openly. Sadly, being “open” and “caring” in our society, is frowned upon. Perhaps frowned upon is a poor choice of words … Lost, forgotten – Buried neatly under our ego and pride. You my friend, are a shining example of all that is amazing and bright in our world, and I feel deeply grateful to have met you! Now let’s awkwardly segue to talking about George Carlin and his “how are you doing skit” 😉 Like you I aim to break up the monotony of social interactions. How is your day? – Nice – Wonderful morning isn’t it? – Sure – A well timed and deftly placed “Not unwell … ” or “Relatively OK … ” usually gets whomever to pause and share a smile with me! For the curmudgeons lurking out there, I toss them a “BULLSHIT” when they say they are doing well or if its nice outside. Gotta keep them on their toes you know 😉
Take care and please stay in touch!
Thank you, as always, for your kind words.
And may I just say.
OMGoodness. I do the exact same thing. “Good enough” is always my response. And when someone says they’re fine, i responds with, “Really?”
You wouldn’t be surprised, I’m sure, at how many change their answer and I finally get a little glimpse into their lives that is real.
Like you, I truly care. I follow my instincts. Yesterday I gave my colleague (whom I actually respect but don’t trust) a photo of a little girl leaning into a boy with a menacing smile and pointing a stick at his nose. Caption: I am not bossy. I have leadership skills. Leadership skills, you hear?
She told me later that a colleague had just told her to (basically) quit being bitchy in her encounters with others.
That made me smile and sad. But it matters to care. And listen to your gut. I think we both do this well.
Have a wonderful day, my friend. We are off to Bennyapolis this weekend to see our grandson! 🙂
“we spend more time defending our own egos than actually enjoying this inspiring moment in time.”
I like that you use the word defending here – I think thats the attitude many have today, we are defensive and quick to judge or make assumptions as other. Thank you for the reminder to let our hearts and spirit propel us.
This post means so much to me and I’m glad that it resonated with you as well, take care and be well!
So refreshing! Thank you 🙂
You are more than welcome my friend 🙂