Ready for your next mindfulness challenge?
It seems the world is changing since we were introduced to texting. We no longer communicate with each other organically. No matter where we are you can see people with their heads down looking at their phones.
We look at others, make our judgments then go on about our day. The problem with this is we lose compassion when we don’t communicate with others. Every person you meet has a story to tell. Chances are it’s not the story you would have guessed. You will never develop compassion for others unless you start a conversation.
During my morning meditation, I set the intention that I would be open to everyone that day. I will engage with people that were serving me in some way. My goal will be to ask them questions and find out something about them that I would have never known. I will live in this moment and watch it as it happens.
Off I went. My day would consist of stopping by to see several clients, but before I did, I needed to go to the office supply store.
Once I had picked up my supplies, I headed to the checkout. Immediately I noticed, the lady checking me out was having trouble speaking. In my mind, I concluded exactly what I thought her story would be. She was younger than me, but not by much I thought. That means she is a mom with at least one child in high school. I bet he plays football and she lost her voice while screaming at his game the Friday before.
Now to test my judgments. I asked her a simple question “Are you ok? I noticed you were having a hard time speaking.”
This was her story:
She was asthmatic. Weeks prior she had an attack and was taken to the hospital. They treated her for an asthma attack and tried to send her home. She told them something was off, that she didn’t feel any better. They told her she would be fine and released her.
A few days later she went back again, still not feeling well. Again, they sent her home. She went back a third time before she was diagnosed with pneumonia. This time they kept her in the hospital. After weeks of recovery, this was her first day back to work. She felt better but still had not gotten her voice back.
I never spoke during her story unless it was to ask another question. It’s amazing how someone can be open to you when you are willing to listen to them and ask about their life. I wished her the best of luck and told her I hope she’d be well soon.
What I learned from this experience was that her story wasn’t anything as I suspected. It was so much more than I could ever imagine.
Your challenge for the next week:
Find a person of service (clerk, mailman, cashier, etc.). Be open to communicating with them by asking them questions about their day or something going on in their life. Don’t talk about yourself, unless they ask you a question. Keep asking them until you find out their story. Chances are their story will be nothing like what you thought it would be.
The more you do these challenges, the more you will find out truly amazing you feel by connecting with people on a genuine basis.
I would love to hear about any experiences you encountered while doing this challenge.
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