Stop Being Selfish
As I was driving into work today, I took notice of the people walking around downtown. IT was pouring rain. Everyone was hurried to get to their office, coffee shop, or bagel spot to seek refuge from the downfall that had befallen the downtown business district.
I saw a man crossing the street. A gust of wind quickly inverted his umbrella, rendering it useless. The man stopped. He appeared to be frustrated as he fiddled with the umbrella. His world stopped around him as he attempted to flip the umbrella back around to make it useful again.
The problem, he stopped in the middle of the road. He stood there, seemingly unaware of the life unfolding around him. Completely focused on this simple task of fixing his umbrella, he seemed acutely unaware of the peril he had placed himself in. As a construction truck barrelled down the road, I braced for what would be a grim start to the day.
In the middle of downtown, a busy street came to a standstill. Luckily, the driver of the truck was paying attention and stopped. With the encouragement of a well-timed honk, the man with the umbrella finally realized that his decision to stop in the middle of the street was perhaps the most dangerous thing he had done that morning. He scurried off to the other side of the street, fixed his umbrella, and carried on about his day.
The takeaway
We get so focused on the little tasks of the day that we forget how what we do impact our future and other futures. Perhaps the people who stopped in traffic had somewhere to be. A life-changing meeting that they are delayed getting to. A patient on the way to the hospital. The list could go on forever. The reality is this. We get so consumed in the daily minutiae that we fail to see how we impact other people. We make our own problems other people’s problems simply by being unaware. Selfishly, we go on about our day as if nothing had occurred. Meanwhile, the rest of society curses us in disbelief.
This is a harsh way to look at things, but it remains true. The next time you’re focused on a task, take a step back and think about how your actions impact other people. It could be the difference between someone having a good day or a bad day.
It’s raining, so I’ll stop here.
