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Dalton
Roberts |
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The darker the times, the more important it is for us to feed our spirits on the good souls among us. That is why Cherie Harclerode’s story still helps me when my hopes for the future of humanity flicker and blink in the dark times. She said, “I was driving into work this morning listening to NPR. There was a story about an 81 year old gal in Paris who goes to the park every day when the weather is good and unpacks her sign which says, ‘Available to Talk.’ I thought of the great gift she is giving to the world with all of our war and terror threats. Sometimes one needs to be reminded that good still exists.” The lady could have done what most of us do every day: just stay at home and bemoan the unending flow of bad news. After all, she is 81 years old and who expects an 81-year-old woman to do such a seemingly wacky thing? Notice I said seemingly wacky. It only seems wacky because we have done such a good job of marinating ourselves in defeatism that a positive person willing to do the simplest of good deeds comes across as wacky. What’s wacky about offering to listen and talk with people? Is there any more basic need in people than to communicate with someone who cares? People will actually do without food at times just to grasp an opportunity to talk over something that deeply troubles them. I am aware that a child or young woman might not act wisely to take such a sign to a public park but there is no shortage of positive acts anyone of any age can do to break through the miasmic fog of bad news that disheartens us daily. One thing that helped me a few years ago was when I took a look at one week of my schedule and realized how many negative persons I would be seeing and how many nasty situations I had booked time to slosh around in. I made the decision then and there to book at least one person every week who uplifts me. At that time it was not easy for me to do that. I had many departments under me and had to face the problems that spun out of those operations. Yet, I kept my vow. As I opened my weekly schedule I would think of at least one positive, good-energy person to spend some time with. The best thing about staying with this plan was that my ability to deal with problems improved. My creativity opened up. The amount of time I was stuck on the flypaper of depression lessened dramatically. None of this should have been viewed as a great revelation to me, yet I confess that it was. Why? I had gotten so accustomed to problems and problem-oriented people that I didn’t take time for anything else. We manage our food diet better than we manage our psychological diet. We try to eat nutritious food but we do not feed our minds and spirits with good ideas and inspiration from uplifting people. We not only need to take in better “people nutrition,” we can also follow the example of the 81 year old French woman and open up our inner being through giving of our gifts and talents. We do not have to perform some earth-shaking good deed. Sometimes it is the humble deeds that cleanse our motivations and enhance our personal powers. I have never had a greater shot of clean energy than when I rang the bell an hour for the Salvation Army Christmas pot. There will always be bad people to bemoan but the best way to neutralize them is to celebrate, enjoy and learn from good people. And never forget that your simple acts of kindness and compassion are powerful antidotes to your own discouragement and depression.
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