Sometimes I think the Universe has a sense of humor! The post mentioned below, The December post on The Gift of Compassion, has recently been re-posted on another site, so I had recently re-read and thought about the things in the post. Today the Universe gave me an opportunity to practice.... Specifically the parts about remembering that someone who is behaving "badly" feels down or bad in some way and secondly, remembering to put my own feelings aside and treat them with dignity and respect anyway. I felt compelled to share it with you!
I was walking through a parking lot towards a store in a strip mall. A truck drove up to drop someone off. A rather large man got out, YELLING at the driver. He slammed the door and stomped off, but then turned around and continue to yell and swing his fists.
Although coming from different angles, it became obvious that we were headed towards the same door of the same store... AND that we would arrive very close to each other. It was also obvious that I had witnessed his outburst.
Ok Penelope, I thought to myself, opportunity here.... (Did I mention I was a little bit scared?!) Arriving at the door just before he did, I opened and held the door for him. He said, "Hello Ma'am, how are you?"
For a moment my ego questions "Ma'am?" Really? But quickly.... I jumped out of my own story, nodded and replied, "Good, how are you?" As soon as I said it, I realized this may not have been the best question given what had just happened... and he didn't answer.
BUT, I thought to myself, I treated this man with respect, even when he may not have deserved it... I held the door and spoke to him. I could not bring myself to make eye contact with him (out of fear.) I could have done that better - but overall felt it was a successful test of the Universe challenging me to practice what I had written here on this blog.
Any other stories out there?
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