Med hitenjem skozi letališče sem se ustavil, da bi kupil vodo. Pri hladilniku v trgovini je bil sklonjen moški in vanj nalagal steklenice. Stegnil sem se mimo njega in izvlekel eno, ki jo je dal tja. Pogledal je gor, nehal delati, vzel steklenico z druge police in mi jo ponudil, rekoč: »Ta je hladna.« Zahvalil sem se in vzel tisto, ki mi jo je ponudil.
Ni me poznal in me ne bo nikoli več videl. Njegovo delo je bilo prodajanje zalog, ne delo s strankami. Bil je zaposlen in videti utrujen. Vendar si je vzel čas, da je opazil, da sem dobila toplo stekleničko, in mu je bilo dovolj mar, da je prestavil in mi prinesel hladno. Zaželel mi je vse dobro.
Zdaj, ko pišem, teden dni kasneje, vidim njegove prijazne oči. Bila je le steklenica vode. Vendar me greje njegova prijaznost in spodbujajo njegovi dobri nameni.
Ko prepoznamo pozitivne namere drugih, se počutimo varnejše, bolj podprte in srečnejše. In ko drugi čutijo, da razumemo njihove dobre namere, se počutijo vidne, cenjene in bolj nagnjene k temu, da z nami lepo ravnajo.
Vendar je lahko težko prepoznati dobro voljo v drugih. Smo zaposleni, raztreseni in pod stresom. Pozitivni cilji so pogosto skriti pod negativnim vedenjem. Prirojena negativnost možganov nenehno išče slabe novice in slabe namere. Možgani se odzivajo tudi na novosti, zato ponavadi ignorirajo številne pozitivne namere, ki prežemajo večino vsakdanjega življenja, medtem ko občasno izpostavijo negativne.
Torej morate aktivno iskati dobre namene. Potem jih boste našli vse okoli sebe – okno v globoko dobroto v vsakem bitju, ne glede na to, kako zakrita je.
Kako?
Vzemite si minuto in prepoznajte številne dobre namene – cilje, namene, želje –, ki jih imate v tipičnem dnevu.
Dobri nameni niso nujno svetniški. Želja po skodelici kave, pojesti spodoben zajtrk, zakleniti vrata za seboj, priti pravočasno v službo, biti vesten, se počutiti varno, skrbeti za družino, biti spodoben človek, se izogniti težavam, manj boleti, uživati v nečem sladkem, se ne prepirati, doživeti sončni vzhod – vse to so dobri nameni.
Večina dobrih namenov bo majhnih. Vendar so še vedno pomembni. Samo predstavljajte si katastrofe, če bi svoje dobre namere zamenjali s slabimi! Seveda nekateri nameni niso tako dobri, na primer želje po prevladi, zasvojenost s hrepenenjem ali izlivanje negativnih čustev na druge. Toda za skoraj vsakogar je velika večina namenov dobrih. Naj to postane občutek, močan občutek v vašem telesu, da ste nekdo z dobrimi nameni.
Ko se pogovarjate s prijateljem, bodite pozorni na njegove ali njene pozitivne namene. Kakšen je občutek, ko ga vidite? To redno poskušajte z ljudmi, ki so vam dragi. Ugotavljam, da mi to pomaga bolje razumeti druge in mi odpre srce. Po potrebi povejte drugi osebi, kaj ste se naučili; slišati priznanje za dobre namene je lahko močna izkušnja.
Poskusite videti dobre namene v neznancih, ki hodijo po ulici – ali na letališču. Videli boste veliko vljudnosti, prizadevanj za dobro delo, želje po razumevanju ali biti razumljen, zvestobe prijateljem in ciljem, poštene igre in prijaznosti. Ta praksa me osrečuje in mi daje močnejši občutek naše skupne človečnosti.
Poskusite to tudi z ljudmi, ki so vam težki. S tem jih ne opravičujem. Vendar pa vam lahko ironično, če sredi slabega vedenja vidite dobre namere, pomaga, da se počutite manj prizadeti – manj pod stresom, razdraženi ali zaskrbljeni – zaradi drugih ljudi. Lahko pa druge prosite, naj prepoznajo dobre namere v vas.
V vsakem od nas, vključno s tistim, ki se ozira v ogledalo, tli žerjavica svetosti. Prepoznavanje dobrih namenov to žerjavico razplamti, ji doda gorivo in ji pomaga, da se razplamti v topel in lep plamen.
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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!