Probijajući se kroz zračnu luku, stao sam kupiti vode. Kod hladnjaka u trgovini, čovjek se sagnuo i u njega utovarivao boce. Pružio sam ruku pored njega i izvukao jednu koju je on stavio unutra. Podigao je pogled, prestao raditi, uzeo bocu s druge police i pružio mi je, rekavši: „Ova je hladna.“ Zahvalio sam se i uzeo onu koju mi je ponudio.
Nije me poznavao i više me nikada neće vidjeti. Njegov je posao bio opskrba, a ne usluga korisnicima. Bio je zauzet i izgledao je umorno. Ali odvojio je vrijeme da primijeti da sam dobila toplu bočicu i bilo mu je dovoljno stalo da promijeni brzinu i donese mi hladnu. Poželio mi je sve najbolje.
Vidim njegove prijateljske oči dok ovo pišem sada, tjedan dana kasnije. Bila je to samo boca vode. Ali osjećam se grijano njegovom ljubaznošću i ohrabreno njegovim dobrim namjerama.
Prepoznajući pozitivne namjere kod drugih, osjećamo se sigurnije, podržanije i sretnije. A kada drugi osjete da razumijemo njihove dobre namjere, osjećaju se viđeno, cijenjeno i sklonije su dobro se ponašati prema nama.
Ali može biti teško prepoznati dobru volju u drugima. Zauzeti smo, rastreseni i pod stresom. Pozitivni ciljevi često su zakopani ispod negativnog ponašanja. Urođena sklonost negativnosti mozga neprestano traži loše vijesti, loše namjere. Mozak također reagira na novosti, pa ima tendenciju ignorirati mnoge pozitivne namjere koje prožimaju većinu svakodnevnog života, dok povremeno ističe negativne.
Dakle, morate aktivno tražiti dobre namjere. Tada ćete ih pronaći posvuda oko sebe - prozor u duboku dobrotu u svakom biću, bez obzira koliko je prikrivena.
Kako?
Odvojite minutu da prepoznate mnoge dobre namjere - ciljeve, svrhe, želje - koje imate u tipičnom danu.
Dobre namjere ne moraju biti svetačke. Želja uživati u šalici kave, pojesti pristojan doručak, zaključati vrata za sobom, doći na posao na vrijeme, biti savjestan, osjećati se sigurno, brinuti se za obitelj, biti pristojna osoba, izbjegavati probleme, manje patiti, uživati u nečemu slatkom, ne svađati se, doživjeti izlazak sunca - sve su to dobre namjere.
Većina dobrih namjera bit će male. Ali i dalje su važne. Zamislite samo katastrofe ako biste svoje dobre namjere zamijenili lošima! Naravno, neke namjere nisu tako dobre, poput želje za dominacijom, ispoljavanja ovisničke žudnje ili iskaljivanja negativnih osjećaja na druge. Ali za gotovo sve, velika većina namjera su dobre. Neka to postane osjećaj, snažan osjećaj u vašem tijelu, da ste netko s dobrim namjerama.
Razgovarajući s prijateljem, budite svjesni njegovih ili njezinih pozitivnih namjera. Kakav je osjećaj vidjeti ga? Pokušajte ovo redovito s ljudima do kojih vam je stalo. Smatram da mi to pomaže da bolje razumijem druge i otvara mi srce. Po potrebi, recite drugoj osobi što ste naučili; čuti priznanje nečijih dobrih namjera može biti snažno iskustvo.
Pokušajte vidjeti dobre namjere kod stranaca koji hodaju ulicom - ili aerodromom. Vidjet ćete mnogo uljudnosti, napora da se obavi dobar posao, želje da se razumije ili da se bude shvaćen, odanosti prijateljima i ciljevima, poštene igre i ljubaznosti. Ova praksa me čini sretnom i daje mi jači osjećaj naše zajedničke humanosti.
Pokušajte ovo i s ljudima koji su vam teški. Ovo nije opravdanje za njih. Ali, ironično, prepoznavanje dobrih namjera usred lošeg ponašanja može vam pomoći da se osjećate manje pogođeni - manje pod stresom, iritirano ili zabrinuto - zbog drugih ljudi. Također možete zamoliti druge da prepoznaju dobre namjere u vama.
U svakome od nas postoji žar svetosti, uključujući i onoga tko se gleda u ogledalo. Prepoznavanje dobrih namjera rasplamsava taj žar, dodaje mu gorivo i pomaže mu da preraste u topao i lijep plamen.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
SHARE YOUR REFLECTION
10 PAST RESPONSES
This is a great article and it is true that so many things we do in a day, or automatically are just to look after ourselves/others and we are all filled with good intentions/
Rabbi Moses Cordovero: "Remember all human beings always in the innocence of their infancy."
nice
article (technically)..but I surely see also the danger as pointed out by the
reply of Bei Yin. To ad also a critical but appreciating comment. It's not
entirely about the article but about it's base/ foundation. actually the first
sentence,, .'let our intentions be good.' What is good? what is intention? what
is the action (of letting be)? We write about it if intention and good are two
separate things. If there is a commonsense or common-consensus of 'good' and
the values that this contains and that intention is a thing we let
happen. Maybe it’s just me, and that is certainly the case, but I see things
this way; If one doesn’t dissociate oneself
from his or her intention and trains oneself to walk in line with this
intention we won’t have to spend energy in forging ourselves on terms like good
or intention. We wouldn’t have to spend any energy in creating world images of
good behavior and their fruits. Instead we would just create, we do every
moment. And the fact that there are billions of people around just means you
are not alone, make use of that instead of convicting it.
Thank you, Rick
Hanson for the article, Grenville Kleisser for the quote, Bei Yin for drawing
my attention to it, ‘dailygood’ for placing and distributing it on internet,
internet for the world wide context, and the world for creating this medium….special
thanks to creation (the action and the result….)
Just one
[Hide Full Comment]thing: If my intention is commonsense than what is it that makes it ‘my’
intention? If my intention is not commonsense than what is it that makes it ‘my’
intention?
Napoleon Hill wrote about how the tipping point of economic failure to economic recovery post great depression was based on the shift from a sense of service. Much like the man who handed you the cold bottle of water. It's that subtle a difference in giving consciousness that can change the world. Great post!
--- "It can be hard to recognize the goodwill in others. We’re busy and distracted and stressed. Positive aims are often buried beneath negative behaviors. The brain’s innate negativity bias is continually scanning for bad news, bad intentions. The brain also reacts to novelty, so it tends to ignore the many positive intentions that pervade most daily life while spotlighting the occasional negative ones."
[Hide Full Comment](Quote from Rick Hanson's article)
--- My comment: The obvious fact is, that we are all manipulated and programmed from a society that has its base on a materialistic world view. This was upgraded during centuries with religious and spiritual beliefs and confirmed in our times by intellectual scientific views and concepts. Lifestyle or behavior of people hardly have changed to a better one, in contrary: the ways and tricks to survive with ones established personality are developing with the same speed as the level of stress is rising up, with the result of disease and destruction on all levels of existence. It's easy to understand, that out of our misery and suffering, we are looking for a new way to survive...
--- Now you have the 'good intention' to manipulate the brain by 'seeing the good intention in others!' Do you really think that you can cover up the daily reality every body is facing, by using a 'positive scam' on oneself? Do you think this will change anything about the *cause*?
Wouldn't it be a better intention to find out about the real reason why we are not finding real satisfaction in our existence? Using another trick can't be a creative way to help in our growing process!
--- Since nearly forty years my (good) intention is to point to a way to go beyond ones limited view, but part of the condition of people is, that they cling on their state of being and only want to be confirmed in it, so not being open for any thing else. It seems that people must suffer much more, before they ask some critical questions about not only their surrounding, but also about themselves. At the moment all questions are answered by the established mindset from society, anything else is ignored and rejected. As long this behavior is not questioned, there is no way out. So what might be your *question*? That for sure I will answer, with the 'good intention' to have an exchange from that every body around can benefit...
--- What I have written here comes out of my 'best intention' to share what is the result from my life long experience and has helped me to grow beyond my limited personality, freeing myself in a creative and healthy way... Realizing something for myself, that can't be described by words, - only can be *lived* and so expressed through my *energy*! Then, when expressed in this writing, can easily be misunderstood, as it depends totally on the interpretation from the readers mindset. - But at least it might trigger some thoughts that are not just influenced by ones need for confirmation...
--- Or is this too much and so unwanted by the moderator?
--- "It can be hard to recognize the goodwill in others. We’re busy and distracted and stressed. Positive aims are often buried beneath negative behaviors. The brain’s innate negativity bias is
[Hide Full Comment]continually scanning for bad news, bad intentions. The brain also reacts to novelty, so it tends to ignore the many positive intentions that pervade most daily life while spotlighting the occasional negative ones." (Quote from Rick Hanson's article)
--- My comment: The obvious fact is, that we are all manipulated and programmed from a
society that has its base on a materialistic world view. This was upgraded during centuries with religious and spiritual beliefs and confirmed in our times by intellectual scientific views and concepts. Lifestyle or behavior of people hardly have changed to a better one, in contrary: the ways and tricks to survive with ones established personality are developing with the same speed as the level of stress is rising up, with the result of disease and destruction on all levels of existence. It's easy to understand, that out of our misery and suffering, we are looking for a new way to survive...
--- Now you have the 'good intention' to manipulate the brain by 'seeing the good intention in others!' Do you really think that you can cover up the daily reality every body is facing, by using a 'positive scam' on oneself? Do you think this will change anything about the *cause*?
Wouldn't it be a better intention to find out about the real reason why we are not finding real satisfaction in our existence? Using another trick can't be a creative way to help in our growing process!
--- Since nearly forty years my (good) intention is to point to a way to go beyond ones limited view, but part of the condition of people is, that they cling on their state of being and only want to be confirmed in it, so not being open for any thing else. It seems that people must suffer much more, before they ask some critical questions about not only their surrounding, but also about themselves. At the moment all questions are answered by the established mindset from society, anything else is ignored and rejected. As long this behavior is not questioned, there is no way out. So what might be your *question*? That for sure I will answer, with the 'good intention' to have an exchange from that every body around can benefit...
--- What I have written here comes out of my 'best intention' to share what is the result from my life long experience and has helped me to grow beyond my limited personality, freeing myself in a creative and healthy way... Realizing something for myself, that can't be described by words, - only can be *lived* and so expressed through my *energy*! Then, when expressed in this writing, can easily be misunderstood, as it depends totally on the interpretation from the readers mindset.
Thanks for the article!
Love this! Thank you.
So true, we see what we focus upon! thank you for the reminder.
The following sentence really made me think. "Just imagine the disasters if you replaced your good intentions with bad ones!" Thank you!