“Atticus, he was real nice."
"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”
—Harper Lee
How often do we think that the world we live in is good and so are people? Or are we mostly terrified that something bad would happen if we venture into an unknown terrain. Someone may rob us; someone may hurt us. The dogs would always bite, and the strangers cannot be trusted. Why do we feel this fear? Is it because we are conditioned that way?
When we
were children, our parents would have asked us to be aware of the situations
and be wary of the new people we meet. Their intention was to let us evolve into
someone who is intuitive and mindful. However, most of us grew up into people who
are sceptical with several overhyped cliched fears. At least now we are older
and could grow out of the fear.
There are
many ways to grow out of that fear. For instance, asking a random person in the
streets for directions, instead of relying only on Google Maps. Going on a solo
trip to a place that is new to us. It could be a half day trip to even begin
with. While in the trip, requesting strangers to take our pictures instead of a
selfie.
Or
something very basic, smile! Yes, just smile when you come face to face with
someone. It would immediately bring a nice aura and you would feel comfortable.
We all live
in an imaginary shell and its time to break it.
I found during my morning walks in New Delhi years back, an elderly jogger whenever he passed by me said "Ram,Ram".I started reciprocating that brought forth a smile and I found myself soon greeting others too with a Hello, HI or Good morning. The faces became familiar and brightened when we crossed leading to small friendships. This small act of spreading cheer brought a sparkle to what I considered my daily walk as an imposition by my doctor.
ReplyDeleteThank you for a beautiful writeup.