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Cultivating Kindness
How to feel overwhelmingly in love with humanity
“How about using your turn signal, dickwad?”
This is a typical driving experience with my husband.
“Hon, you never know. That could be a potential friend.”
“No, I guarantee you they’re not.”
This is the ongoing debate between my husband and me. Recently retired from teaching college English, I now teach yoga and help my elderly parents. My husband has a very stressful career as a divorce attorney.
I view humanity is basically good, kind, and potential friends. He views everyone with suspicion, and believes that I am completely naïve to think otherwise.
It makes me sad to think that Charlie’s job has made him suspicious of everyone. As a divorce attorney, he sees good people on their worst behavior — unlike criminal attorneys who see bad people at their best. Unfortunately, this behavior has solidified his view that people are basically untrustworthy.
Charlie expects people to act like jerks, and quite often his expectations come true. And then, when he gets to know someone, he usually ends up liking them.
I am exactly the opposite. I expect people to be friendly and happy to talk to me. I strike up conversations with…
