With mild weather sweeping through the Chicago area, my first opportunity to take an enjoyable walk in the park was this past Sunday morning. As I rounded the quarter-mile track, I encountered a woman walking two large dogs – the one on the right was going number two. While this was not a sight I wanted to see after my hearty breakfast, I was angered when she left without picking up after her dog. The non-confrontational part of me defeated my angry side. I said nothing. At each subsequent lap that I walked, I was reminded of the “gift” that was left behind.
I thought about this incident and how it was a prime example of something that has grown to bother me about us humans – the “me” mentality. You see it when you are crossing the street and none of the vehicles give the pedestrians the right-of-way or when drivers are in such a hurry that they put other drivers in danger. It happens when wealthy investors make poor investment decisions with other people’s money (think AIG) or when accountants cook the books at their companies. It happens when a governor of your state makes decisions that he says are best for its citizens, but really these decisions are for his own self-interest. There are more examples of this behavior than there is room to write about it.
I subscribe to the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is one of my favorite lessons from the Bible. Going one step further, I would say that if you want to see change in the world, it starts with you. You must be the change that you want to see in the world.
What kind of “gifts” have you left behind for others? What kind of change do you want to see in the world?
I thought about this incident and how it was a prime example of something that has grown to bother me about us humans – the “me” mentality. You see it when you are crossing the street and none of the vehicles give the pedestrians the right-of-way or when drivers are in such a hurry that they put other drivers in danger. It happens when wealthy investors make poor investment decisions with other people’s money (think AIG) or when accountants cook the books at their companies. It happens when a governor of your state makes decisions that he says are best for its citizens, but really these decisions are for his own self-interest. There are more examples of this behavior than there is room to write about it.
I subscribe to the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is one of my favorite lessons from the Bible. Going one step further, I would say that if you want to see change in the world, it starts with you. You must be the change that you want to see in the world.
What kind of “gifts” have you left behind for others? What kind of change do you want to see in the world?
Photo from the Norman Rockwell collection.
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