It is another hot summer day in July, you are pulling out from the parking lot of a local fast-food establishment onto a busy street. There is a traffic signal just up the road so it shouldn’t be too difficult. When everyone has to stop, surely someone will see you trying to exit into the traffic and let you in, right? Sometimes, yes they do. But this time, the driver pulled up as close to the next stopped vehicle as possible without hitting them. It seemed as if they were afraid you might try to squeeze your car into the one-foot space they might have otherwise left. Finally, you manage to get out into the traffic. Just up the road, there is another traffic signal and a vehicle in the exact same predicament that you were just in. Now you can do them the way you were done out of spite, even though they had nothing to do with it. Or you can choose to have integrity and do what you know is right by allowing them to enter the street in front of you. Which would you choose? Today you made a trip to one of the local department stores. You greeted everyone you met with a smile and said good morning. Most smiled back, some even said good morning back and asked how you were doing. It was troubling that so many never replied. It almost made you feel as if you were wasting your time trying to be nice and spreading the joy. So what do you do? Do you do like those that seemed to ignore you? Or do you continue to be you and not let it bring you down from your cheerful morning? Which would you choose? Now you are in the parking lot after loading your purchases into your car you begin to back out. There is a large truck parked beside you so you cannot see any traffic coming down the lane. Slowly you ease out and all of a sudden you hear a horn, a car comes blowing by and blowing their horn all the way. So you pulled back forward. After having experienced that exact same thing twice more you finally made it into the lane of the parking lot to make your way to the street and home. As you are slowly driving down the lane toward the street you see a vehicle backing out of its parking spot. Since you see them and they obviously are not seeing you do you stop and let them exit into the lane in front of you? Or should you wiz by nearly causing a wreck and blow your horn just like you just experienced? Which would you do? I could write a book on scenarios just like these that I myself along with most everyone that reads this have experienced. We all want change. We all want something better. The problem is not that we are not capable because we are all very capable. The problem is the lack of leadership. Everyone is waiting on someone else to do it. Doing the right thing is not rocket science. You don’t need to be a genius to be generous. If you truly want change, then change. Why don’t YOU show everyone how great it feels to be a better person? Why don’t you make an effort to be the greeting that brightens everyone’s day? I truly believe that you cannot expect to get that which you are not freely willing to give. Try it, you might be surprised at how rewarding it really is to just be nice.
Simply my thoughts
Dean Butler
