Simple Acts of Kindness

In the book "How Yoga Works" by Geshe Michael Roach, the main character discusses the cause and effect of thoughts as planting seeds in the mind. It is an overwhelming consideration that a single thought can manifest itself into something so much larger that does not serve us well. The simplification of the idea is what draws me to the blog today... as the book describes the first humans sitting in a cave eating, the idea of sharing food enters one of the humans' mind. As the human shares food, this single act of kindness starts a kind of chain reaction. "And then maybe the next day the first human goes out again looking for some food, and he is special, you see, and he notices that food seems a lot easier to find that day. And then some unspeakably holy, sacred string of thought passes through his mind and he says to himself, 'Maybe food is easier to find for me today because I shared my food yesterday.'"

This thought has been with me for the past couple of days. As the world around me seemed to be frantically looking for gifts or "getting somewhere," I wondered if my act of kindness to whomever I came into contact with would change the way that they interacted with me. What I found was an amazing reaction to just looking people in the eyes, smiling, and caring about them.

I'm not a psychologist, but I am an observer. What I observed is that when a person is engaged with a simple act of kindness the intention of their actions changes. For example: engage a cashier at a grocery store with a simple smile and conversation that may empathize with a busy Holiday season. Suddenly her posture changes, she's no longer worried how long the line is getting, she starts to smile, then laugh and brighten. More interesting; she isn't throwing produce across the scanner anymore... instead... she is intentionally taking care of the food. I even started noticing acts of kindness when driving. I observed my stress level decrease and traffic seemed to move a lot smoother as I focused on being kind to others around me... and my car too. I take care of you... you take care of me.

Of course - there are always exceptions to the experiment. I've allowed those interactions to pass knowing that maybe, one day, it will make a difference. Until then, I will keep experimenting and observing.

I would love to see your comments on observations. Please share!

Peace, Love and Joy this holiday season...