Today has been a terrible day. Jake, the cute guy who lives on the floor below you, did not acknowledge your existence in the elevator of your apartment complex. Talk about a confidence killer. A red Toyota cut you off in traffic and almost hit your car. You were quick to lay on your horn. The Starbucks barista was extremely rude to you. All you wanted was no whip cream. Your best friend Katie canceled your dinner plans 10 minutes before you were supposed to meet. This is the fifth time she has cancelled on you in two weeks. You have not slept in days because work is stressful. Today you are hyper-aware of people’s inability to be nice. What is wrong with people?
Well, actually there’s a lot wrong.
Jake ignored you because he was thinking about the phone call he just received. His mother’s PET scan revealed her cancer is back. She had been healthy for eight months and he was just starting to feel relieved. He was on the way to the hospital.
Janet cut you off this morning because she was running late to pick up her daughter from school. She’s a single mom who works double shifts to pay the bills. The school is threatening to call child services if she is late again. Her daughter feels like she does not care about her.
The barista at Starbucks is dealing with an alcoholic boyfriend. Yesterday he stormed out of their house around 3 p.m. He finally stumbled into their room at 2 a.m. He was blacked out and proceeded to punch her several times in her stomach. She cried herself to sleep before waking up at 5 a.m. to get ready for work. She was exhausted and drowning in her own thoughts when she took your order.
Katie is dealing with depression. She does not know how to talk about her pain. She took down all the mirrors in her dorm room. Lately she locks herself in her room in complete darkness. These last few nights she has cut herself. She does not know what to say, so she continues to cancel on you.
You had a terrible day but you have no idea what these other people have gone through today. You are not the source of any of these problems. In fact, you were completely unaware of it all. It is easy to let things bother you. You are born to see the world through one perspective: your own. You think about how you feel. You think about what you see. You think about what you hear. The things you could see if you just stopped and tried to look at things with a different perspective. What we could all see. We are all vulnerable and are forced to deal with life on life’s terms.
Courtesy: Tabitha Cervantes
You cannot save everyone, but just being mindful can change a person’s day. It will definitely change yours. Be aware of others. Think a little longer. You never know what battles other people are fighting.