No Road Rage for Me Today!

Day of Compassion 7/12/13

As I began my day of compassion today I felt that I could show compassion to every living thing that I encountered throughout the day. This included plants, animals, family members, friends, and strangers. I tried to be mindful of how I could show compassion as authentically as possible. I always felt I was a compassionate person toward others but never really stopped to analyze this concept. I have always just treated others as I would like to be treated. This is my day of compassion.

Sharing a smile with a stressed out mom at the grocery store, who was obviously irritated at her screaming toddler as he begged for this and that as they went down the aisle, was one way that I showed compassion today. I know that she passed many irritated shoppers who probably glared at her as she tried to get her shopping done. My smile eased her stress and she eased into a smile and I spoke to her and let her know that I knew what she was going through because my kids had all went through this “gimme gimme” stage. The little boy stopped screaming enough to look at who his mommy was talking to and he shared an adorable grin and showed me a snack that she had already caved into giving him. I told the young mother to be firm and to stand her ground by not giving in all the time. She thanked me for being understanding and we went on our way.

Smiling at strangers can go a long way. I smiled at many different strangers as I met them throughout the day. Typically people are in a mad rush to get somewhere and don’t take time to engage with me. I found that many people who took time to speak back to me were elders. Whether it be commenting on the weather or fires around our region or making small talk about if I am enjoying my summer. I found it oddly refreshing to stop and take time to interact with the people I met throughout my day. I send several texts throughout my day with my family and even interact with fellow Wright Fellows on our Facebook page so the face to face interaction was nice even if I had no personal connection with them other than getting gas at the same gas station or buying groceries in the same store. I actually took time to stop and listen for their responses when they spoke to me and did not ask questions and zone out on their responses. I did that earlier in the week to Tom when I greeted him in the morning by asking him how he was doing and then asking him the same question out of habit as I was walking away. We are creatures of habit and I immediately started chuckling and apologized for my spacy response.

I found myself feeling that just spending this face to face time with my husband, daughters, and grandchildren today was a way to show compassion to both them and to me. We have all missed each other this summer and just hearing what they have been doing this week while I was at class, typing or reading was great. My family is so important to me and it was great to smile and laugh with them if for a brief while. My husband’s arms were comforting as we snuggled in the morning and shared events from our week. He is on vacation this week and the rest of my family is up at family camp at Dworshak so sacrificing some family time has happened for me but they are all very supportive and understanding. They have been compassionate to me.

It has been a well- known fact to my friends and family that I have road rage to drivers who do not signal or who drive slower than the speed limit and then speed up as you try to pass or who drive recklessly. My mother was killed in a head on collision as a young man attempted to pass seven to eight cars on a corner.  As I commuted today I took a deep breath and did not yell at the white car that turned in front of me without turning on his signal. I normally shout, “Hey I have my family in here buddy!” or “Thanks for turning on that little switch we call a signal!” I slowed down and counted to ten while breathing in and out. I tried to think about what they might be going through and considered how we were all lucky no accident happened. When I get in the car to drive I am always worried about the driver in the other car. I tried to show compassion but still found myself irritated at how irresponsible some people are when they get in their cars. This was a difficult task but my attempts at not yelling at drivers today went pretty well. My youngest daughter always says, “Mom you know they can’t hear you right?” when I yell at them and today she did not have to remind me because I was not yelling at them.

I ended my day of compassion by soaking in a hot bath to ease sore muscles that have been tense with stress. I haven’t taken time to do this in quite some time and was at once reminded of how relaxing this was for me. I just soaked until the water cooled and felt like I was ready to tackle the next task at hand.