August 2, 2023 Lost opportunities have the power to haunt.
Some years ago, a woman related something that happened when her daughter was young.
While checking out in a grocery store, she heard the woman at the next register saying she did not have enough money to pay for all her groceries. Planning how she was going to get her daughter and her own groceries to her car, the young mother realized—too late—that if she had not been so self-absorbed, she could have offered to help pay for the other woman’s groceries.
Years later, her oversight still haunts her. That young mother is now a loving grandmother, thoughtful of everyone she encounters. Like all of us, she has regrets. One of them is how years before, failing to notice what was happening in someone else’s life, she missed the opportunity to provide assistance.
How easy it is for each of us to become so preoccupied with our own lives that we fail to notice situations in the lives of others.
And so, not paying attention, we miss an opportunity to do good.
July 24, 2023 Transform enemies into friends.
It starts with what we tell ourselves. Out with negative chatter, in with positive self-talk.
When next with the person who irritates us, look for something he does that’s kind. Ignore how you feel about him. Just focus on that kind behavior. That’s your first “turn.” It enables you to react positively to him, which will be imprinted in his store consciousness.
If there’s no change in him, try again. Don’t just throw up your hands and quit. Focus on that kindness. At some point, those Kind-reaction Seeds in his consciousness will mature. By planting dozens of seeds instead of only one, your odds for growing flowers improve.
As you’re casting seeds in his consciousness and planting them in your own, remember, all you can control is your own thoughts and emotions. Just as you toss in a few flower seeds into his sadly barren yard when you walk by, in hopes that they will bring him happiness, you should also nurture your own.
You’ll grow a beautiful garden.
After seeing it, he may just want one too.