07 April 2010

Two ways

There are two ways of doing it.

One is to think, upon considering a task pending or accomplished, "I wish someone did this for me."

The other is to think, "I'm glad I can do this for someone I love."

Most of us want to be nice people and do nice things and be thought well of. The easy route to this is by doing nice things for people we don't really know for the purpose of being kind, yes, but also to gain their esteem. Random acts of kindness directed toward strangers are personally superficial, because they cost us very little.

Our boring work offers us daily the opportunity to show kindness to others, and not just any others, but the people we love most. What a loss to reap from it a harvest of resentment rather than satisfaction.

The joy of the dative, people. Not "I'm doing this," but "I'm doing this for them."

4 comments:

Untamed Shrew said...

maybe if I keep reading it, it will sink in.... At the moment I'm wondering where I can purchase a strait-jacket in sizes 2T and 6X.

Rebekah said...

And maybe if I keep writing it, it will sink in. :P

JenniferH said...

This changed my day Rebakah, thank you. Here's hoping it changes my week, month, year, life...and this moment.

Rebekah said...

JH, one day at a time.