Call me naive. Call me Pollyanna. Accuse me of looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. But I believe most people, deep down, are good.
No doubt there are people in this world that are evil. But I believe, at least in my community and circle, those people are rare.
I have always had a tendency to like most people. The joke in our family is that I can probably count on one hand the number of people I dislike. But liking someone has nothing to do with their innate goodness. Even the people I dislike have some good hiding in there somewhere. Just because I’m put off by their personalities or other factors doesn’t mean they don’t have elements of goodness.
Notice the shirt I’m wearing in the photo. (My four-year-old granddaughter took this photo of me last falll–isn’t she talented???) I received the t-shirt when I registered to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by completing a three-mile walk/run. For those of you who know me, three miles is a piece of cake. No biggie on my part, but several people donated to my cause to help fight childhood cancer.
Good, generous people. The workers at St. Jude are kind, caring people. The ones who interact with the children and witness suffering on a daily basis have a strength and compassion that enable them to do their jobs.
Good people.
The teachers who truly care about their students, no matter how challenging it is, are good people.
The stranger that stops to help a stranded driver, the people who help those who can’t help themselves. Good people.
I could go on in generalities, but I’ll share a specific experience that happened to me this week. I was to speak to a class at the local university, and my ride (remember, I can’t drive anymore–haven’t driven in over seven years, and I still HATE that situation) was almost two hours earlier than my scheduled time to speak. So I went into the university center to indulge in a Chick-Fil-A breakfast of the chicken minis.
The area had been renovated since I was last there, and I was using my identification cane. I don’t need to cane to see how to walk. I use the cane to let others know I am visually impaired. The cane explains, without my having to use words, why I move more slowly in certain situations, why it takes me longer to do things, why I pause a very long time before crossing a street so I can listen for oncoming vehicles.
So when I approached the counter, I went to the wrong side to place my order. The kind woman at the other end said something, and I went to that side. When the gentleman gave my large unsweetened iced tea (yes, call me a traitor to southern culture), he handed it to me very carefully and asked in a nice tone, “Do you have it?”
When I finished eating, I picked up my trash and headed to what I assumed were the trash bins. But when I got there, there was no opening on the top. I looked on the sides. No opening. I was about to turn around and look somewhere else when I young man came up behind me and in a cheerful tone said, “They’ve still got these covered.” He reached over and slid a dark object (which I figured out was a tray) away. There was the hole to dispense the trash.
He was not a worker. He was just a college student there to eat some breakfast.
I thanked him, and he made another nice comment. What a nice young man. No doubt he has a kind heart.
Unlike some, I have hope for the future. I have hope for our world. I have learned that kindness is reciprocated by kindness. Grouchy, unkind remarks are likely to be met with grouchy, unkind remarks. But kindness in tone and a pleasant smile can make all the difference.
I’ve had people tell me they could never teach high school students like I did for most of my career. But I loved high school students–at least, most of them. My first year of teaching was a bumpy ride, but I learned the balance of discipline and kindness (I hope), and my experiences created great memories I cherish to this day.
I know not everyone shares my attitude. I know of many people who focus on criticizing others and looking for their faults or flaws.
But I choose to look for the best. It’s a challenge with those four or five people I’ve known and disliked, but I try to give them some grace. It doesn’t mean I have to spend time with them. It just means I need to try to see things from their point of view.
Unless they’re evil. But those few are not.
We played a game Sunday afternoon with my son and part of his family, and the purpose of the game was to write things that fit a category. Jake drew a card that said, “Things that are evil.” My immediate response? Social media.
It’s not evil if used in the right way. But it’s evil if used in the wrong way. All the political stuff, all the unkind and hateful remarks, all the insults that people feel free to hurl hiding behind their phones. What’s the point? I know each person has freedom of speech but how sad is it that freedom of speech gives us justification for being unkind.
I guess this is enough of my opinion today. But I think part of the solution to the problems we have in this life is being good and kind to others. It’s hard to be mean to someone who is kind to you.
Life As I know it 