So Easy Even A Child Could Do It . . . . .

Yesterday I was crabby. Now for some people this might be a natural state but I like being happy better. The question is, how do I get psyched for acts of kindness, random and otherwise if I'm crabby and don't feel like it?

Any commitment I make becomes a learning experience. Yoga, meditation, going to church, relationships, all present me with an opportunity to learn how to do something when I don't want to do it. But I make the commitment to it and I try to figure out how to cope. It's where I learn about myself and what I'm capable of accomplishing.

Well, yesterday was my first day of learning "How to be kind to my fellow man when I just didn't feel like it." Now I had a little help with this lesson and when I say little, I mean my little boy.

While enjoying the snow in a local park yesterday, my son and I met some cross country skiers. I was a little crabby and not really into being social when my son strikes up a conversation with an older woman skiing alone. I encourage him to speak to adults in my presence because I want him to be independent and explore his world. So I stood by and let him lead the conversation. He asked her name, introduced himself and asked why she was skiing alone. They spoke for about ten minutes and we found out that Mrs. M.'s kids are all grown up and her granddaughter is too young to come skiing yet.

It ended with her wishing a us good day and my son saying, " Will you be back tomorrow? We can talk more then."

Mrs. M. said, "No I'm going to visit my brother tomorrow."

He said, "Oh, why don't you bring him here with you?"

She laughed and agreed that maybe he would come another time and wished us well and skied off.

I was so impressed with how my son connected with this stranger and how kindness just came naturally to him. I think it was both being open to the moment without any embarrassment. A real lesson in being kind.

I tend to learn more about myself when things go wrong than when things go right. I think facing a discouraging day is part of being human. I have to be reminded to start the next day, hour, or minute as a new beginning. It's the lesson of approaching the world with the innocence of a child (see above!), accepting my shortcomings and beginning again. I think it's what keeps my commitments alive.

So after my lesson in beginning again, we went to lunch and I left a large tip for the waiter at IHOP, even after he messed up the order. I felt he needed a break, maybe we both did.


Joe