Working on Self

I took part in a local climate action, yesterday, sponsored by 350.org. A small group of like-minded people got together to take a visible stand in regard to climate change and to educate the general public about the need to lower carbon dioxide emissions to less than 350 ppm from the current 387 ppm. Writer/Activist Bill McKibben did a splendid job uniting groups in more than one-hundred eighty nations to create more than fifty-two hundred actions.

I have to confess that staying positive about the action was easy compared to staying positive about the individuals involved and their foibles. From a bossy micromanager, to a snapping irritated extrovert, to a strident angry sign carrier, we were certainly not using inclusive language or standing united for our cause.

What makes us so testy when we interact? I don’t have the answer—only speculations about stress (both physical and mental), about trying to stay within a certain timeframe while awaiting those who were tardy, about pleasing people who refuse to be pleased, and about how chronic physical pain can wreak havoc on attitude.

Do we need to learn to be kind, to be polite, and to have a cheery attitude toward minor irritations at a young age for them to be a first response to irritation? I know I was disappointed in my reactions (I was the snappy one) and I so desperately want to do better than this.

If I strongly believe in peace, compromise, common ground, and positive behavior—and I do—what takes over those beliefs and makes me a snappish boor? What made the others act as they did?

I search for equanimity and work on patience.

Peace and blessings (practice the first; count the second).

Lessons well learned.

Sometimes we think we know a lot about an individual, and we react using that knowledge. Perhaps that knowledge has been received from an entity with which we have something in common—one that we trust. Next, we stand in judgment of the person by the definition we have been given for him or her by the trusted entity. We could so easily find ourselves to be misinformed, or perhaps, under-informed.

Individuals are complex integrations of positive and negative traits, and unless we have had personal contact with that person, we really should take care to find out more before we judge. (I was re-taught this lesson, today—thank you, Sis!) The Internet offers us a great (albeit not only) resource to find out more about the complex actions of famous and not-so-famous individuals—we just might find out we have more in common than we originally thought.

I’ve had my comeuppance, today, and I humbly eat crow. I also ask that everyone else take time to check just one assumption you hold on the basis of what you have learned from a trusted, but potentially biased, source. You’ll be glad you did.

Peace and blessings (practice the first; count the second).