There was nothing unusual about the day. While I waited for Troy to finish getting ready to go to our meditation group, I decided to run a quick errand to the post office to mail a couple of letters. Little did I know it was a trip filled with small tests. Tests of my moral character, of my compassion for other beings, of my judgement.
It was a late Saturday afternoon and the post office was already closed. I went inside to use the automated stamp machine to get some stamps. When I walked up to the machine I found someone's credit card lying on top of the work space. There wasn't anyone else in the post office and I immediately felt panicked. Don't ask me why, but when you are standing in an empty building and someone's credit card is lying in front of you, you get a little nervous that the owner of the card is going to come flying back inside in a panic and accuse you of stealing their card. Okay, maybe not. Maybe that's only if you are a little paranoid...
I pondered my options. I knew I could not leave the credit card just lying there to tempt someone else who has a lower moral code than my own. I thought of calling the bank to report that I'd found the card, but again, was afraid someone would see me standing there with the card in my hand. I finally decided my best move was to put the card in an envelope and put it in the mail slot for the postal workers to find. Hopefully the individual would come back to the post office looking for the card and they could return it to them. So I dug through the trash until I found an envelope someone had discarded. Placing the credit card inside, I folded the envelope up around it, wrote on the outside, "Found on postal machine on Sunday", and dropped it into one of the mail slots. Feeling proud of myself for finding a way out of my dilemma without having to handle the card, I turned back to the task of purchasing stamps.
Once my stamps were stuck and my envelopes followed the credit card into the mail slot, I turned and headed for the door. Right outside the door I found a man who looked down on his luck at the best, and homeless at the worst. He had a big bushy beard that was as dirty as his clothing. As I walked past him, he softly asked if I could spare a dollar to help him out.
Since I'm starting this blog with this post, you'll need a little background here. In the past six weeks we have had very challenging financial issues with very expensive cat illnesses costing in the thousands, an unexpected emergency room visit, hot water leak that went undetected until just before the $600 electric bill came due, and more fun like that. So, to say I was a *little* concerned about paying the bills is a slight understatement.
That was my state of mind when the man asked me for help. I looked at him and informed him, "Hey, I'm no better off than you are buddy. I'm hurting too and don't have anything to spare." He thanked me anyway and wished me a good day as I continued walking past him without slowing.
I opened the door and slid into the seat of my shiny, bright yellow new car that I got a couple of months ago before all heck broke loose in my personal financial world. As I cranked the car, turned on the A/C, opened the sun roof, and prepared to turn up my XM Satellite radio, I suddenly became disgusted with myself.
Who in the HELL do I think I am to tell this man I'm almost in as bad a shape as he is??? Wow. That sure set me on my butt for a few minutes and gave me something to seriously consider. Then I became angry at myself. Who do I think I am??? How selfish!!!! So, I turned off the car. Pulled out my wallet. Grabbed a $5 bill and got out of the car to give it to the stranger. I walked up to him, placed the money in his hand, and apologized. I told him that I would NEVER be so bad off that I could not help another person. He looked stunned and I felt a lot better when I climbed back into my pretty yellow car.
As I drove away from the post office I laughed out loud and spoke to the Universe. "Testing me, are you? Well, the credit card test was a complete insult. I would NEVER steal or use another person's credit card!" A little voice inside my head said, "...and is the primary reason because it is morally wrong or because you are afraid of what would happen if you get caught...?"
I am ashamed to admit my first thought was not that it was morally wrong. I was afraid of getting caught and going to jail. That's why I got so scared when I saw the card lying there. I was afraid of the LEGAL aspect, not the MORAL. Okay, so that gave me something to think about.
"Yeah, but the beggar. Well, that was a good one. You ALMOST got me on that one!"
So a simple trip to the post office actually became quite an enlightening experience for me. You see, we are always able to learn about ourselves in our normal every day lives, not just when we have extraordinary experiences. You just have to keep your eyes, ears, and heart open to hearing and realizing the truth when you hear it. You must put your ego to sleep and own your crap!
Friday, August 14, 2009
A Not-So-Usual Trip to the Post Office
There was nothing unusual about the day. While I waited for Troy to finish getting ready to go to our meditation group, I decided to run a quick errand to the post office to mail a couple of letters. Little did I know it was a trip filled with small tests. Tests of my moral character, of my compassion for other beings, of my judgement.
It was a late Saturday afternoon and the post office was already closed. I went inside to use the automated stamp machine to get some stamps. When I walked up to the machine I found someone's credit card lying on top of the work space. There wasn't anyone else in the post office and I immediately felt panicked. Don't ask me why, but when you are standing in an empty building and someone's credit card is lying in front of you, you get a little nervous that the owner of the card is going to come flying back inside in a panic and accuse you of stealing their card. Okay, maybe not. Maybe that's only if you are a little paranoid...
I pondered my options. I knew I could not leave the credit card just lying there to tempt someone else who has a lower moral code than my own. I thought of calling the bank to report that I'd found the card, but again, was afraid someone would see me standing there with the card in my hand. I finally decided my best move was to put the card in an envelope and put it in the mail slot for the postal workers to find. Hopefully the individual would come back to the post office looking for the card and they could return it to them. So I dug through the trash until I found an envelope someone had discarded. Placing the credit card inside, I folded the envelope up around it, wrote on the outside, "Found on postal machine on Sunday", and dropped it into one of the mail slots. Feeling proud of myself for finding a way out of my dilemma without having to handle the card, I turned back to the task of purchasing stamps.
Once my stamps were stuck and my envelopes followed the credit card into the mail slot, I turned and headed for the door. Right outside the door I found a man who looked down on his luck at the best, and homeless at the worst. He had a big bushy beard that was as dirty as his clothing. As I walked past him, he softly asked if I could spare a dollar to help him out.
Since I'm starting this blog with this post, you'll need a little background here. In the past six weeks we have had very challenging financial issues with very expensive cat illnesses costing in the thousands, an unexpected emergency room visit, hot water leak that went undetected until just before the $600 electric bill came due, and more fun like that. So, to say I was a *little* concerned about paying the bills is a slight understatement.
That was my state of mind when the man asked me for help. I looked at him and informed him, "Hey, I'm no better off than you are buddy. I'm hurting too and don't have anything to spare." He thanked me anyway and wished me a good day as I continued walking past him without slowing.
I opened the door and slid into the seat of my shiny, bright yellow new car that I got a couple of months ago before all heck broke loose in my personal financial world. As I cranked the car, turned on the A/C, opened the sun roof, and prepared to turn up my XM Satellite radio, I suddenly became disgusted with myself.
Who in the HELL do I think I am to tell this man I'm almost in as bad a shape as he is??? Wow. That sure set me on my butt for a few minutes and gave me something to seriously consider. Then I became angry at myself. Who do I think I am??? How selfish!!!! So, I turned off the car. Pulled out my wallet. Grabbed a $5 bill and got out of the car to give it to the stranger. I walked up to him, placed the money in his hand, and apologized. I told him that I would NEVER be so bad off that I could not help another person. He looked stunned and I felt a lot better when I climbed back into my pretty yellow car.
As I drove away from the post office I laughed out loud and spoke to the Universe. "Testing me, are you? Well, the credit card test was a complete insult. I would NEVER steal or use another person's credit card!" A little voice inside my head said, "...and is the primary reason because it is morally wrong or because you are afraid of what would happen if you get caught...?"
I am ashamed to admit my first thought was not that it was morally wrong. I was afraid of getting caught and going to jail. That's why I got so scared when I saw the card lying there. I was afraid of the LEGAL aspect, not the MORAL. Okay, so that gave me something to think about.
"Yeah, but the beggar. Well, that was a good one. You ALMOST got me on that one!"
So a simple trip to the post office actually became quite an enlightening experience for me. You see, we are always able to learn about ourselves in our normal every day lives, not just when we have extraordinary experiences. You just have to keep your eyes, ears, and heart open to hearing and realizing the truth when you hear it. You must put your ego to sleep and own your crap!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment