Is the world scary or friendly?
I had an amazing thing happen TWICE in less than 24 hours. The events left me both thankful and curious about the meaning of the acts.
First, my cellphone fell out of my car in a Best Buy parking lot last night. The man who found it located my home number, called me and waited as I drove back to the store to retrieve my phone.
Second, my driver’s license and credit card fell out of my jacket while walking this morning. As I frantically retraced my steps, a man jogged up to me. He recognized me from my license and handed me the missing cards.
Recently, I read an article that said the crime rates have decreased in most major cities but surveys say people think that crime has increased. The author blamed the misconception on the increase of news that focuses on what scares us.
So I am reporting news about two people who were generous and kind. How many people do you know who always do the right thing, even go out of their way to be helpful? I am blessed to know many and I keep meeting more.
I suppose there is also a lesson here around my knack for losing things. I’ll work on that one.
Of course there are scary places in the world and even in our cities. There are also friendly places. I believe we have to share these stories too in order to keep our communities strong.
Do you have an act of kindness to share? Please post it here or comment on my blog. Let’s create our own news channel that focuses on caring instead of fear.
What a fabulous testimony of the goodness in people you have provided us with today. Thank you Marcia. In my twenty years of travel, I have met some of the most gracious and kind people everywhere. I once left my purse at 8:00 a.m. before a presentation on top of the back table where over one hundred people were in attendance. At the end of the day it was STILL there!
Small world! The day before you posted this entry I’d been shopping at the local Target. I got a call on my business phone, which I don’t normally answer on weekends. The caller identified herself as “Mary” and said she’d found my wallet in the Target parking lot. I hadn’t even discovered yet that I’d lost it!!
She tried to deliver the wallet to my house, but I wasn’t there. So she went home and called [my business card was in the wallet]. When I picked up the wallet, I tried to give her some cash, but she steadfastly refused. “I’d want someone else to do the same for me,” she said. I’m writing this to share her kindness far and wide. Mary on Palmer Avenue, thank you!!
Great story! I am out of the country and the only programs on TV in English are news programs. I’m so glad you made me smile. Thank you.
Marcia,
Thank you so much for these anecdotes. That essential question: is the word scary or friendly? – It gets to the heart of how we chose to live our lives. Do you surrender to a fear-based existence or do we live consciously and keep ourselves open to wonder, surprise, enchantment.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Rumi, “Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment”. In a weird way, that’s what you have to do when you live. Don’t lean on the alarmist news, so full of sadness and terror and tragedy… If that was the world you believed in, you would never leave your house. I know I sure don’t want to after days of being fed bad, scary news from the media. You need to be smart and open.
Last week I went running alone and was verbally attacked and threatened with physical assault by an old man walking his dogs. He was crazy and I am eminently grateful that I got out of the experience alive. But here is what I took from it: I will not run by myself without a cell phone or without a friend on the trails anymore. Most of the time it is safe, but this scary experience came into my life to gently advise me that I need to be a bit more careful and judicious and not so footloose and fancyfree about my running and travels.
We can’t let the fear paralyze us, but we can let it teach us so we can go out into the world and follow our dreams.
Few months ago I was on business trip to the UK. Warnings of attending luggage and belongings all over (as everywhere, as we always hear, as we always see); one easily becomes paranoid and suspicious.
A young man in the metro offered to help me with one of my bags. I hesitantly let him help me. He carried my heaviest suitcase with, in addition, a broken handle for two floors, and gave it back to me with a smile.
I felt so ashamed. I allowed to be brainwashed by “all the evil” that is regularly being reported. Cautiousness is good. We just need a higher ratio in reporting on the good in people.
