Gandhi says it well

The quote on this bumper sticker is from M. Gandhi. I was folding and organizing Scott's clothes today and ran across a shirt that I had bought him years ago with this same phrase on it. I paused for a moment and recalled an incident that occurred yesterday with one of our neighbors.

I was minding my own business in my new home with my children at hand, when a lady appeared at my front door. Madelyn followed me as I answered the door. This lady begins introducing herself as the owner of the house right beside us. This seemed strange to me at first because we figured this family moved out of town because the house was empty. The rumor of the neighborhood actually is that they won the lottery and skipped town. Anyhow, she went on to describe how upset she was that we used her trash cans. Yes, Scott and I thought it would be fine to use her trash cans since we had some extra with moving in and cleaning up the yard. We even spoke with another neighbor about doing so. She, very angrily went on to tell me I had better get that stuff out or she would call someone. She said she needed to get something out of her trash that was left in there. I was in shock.

After being fussed at, I quickly put my shoes on and told my children to stay in the house. I ran down to the back of the house to get a wheel barrel to put our trash in. She watched as I worked on her assigned task. Many neighbors drove by as I was coughing from the dirt that was flying up. Needless to say I was not happy about this. My honey was at Carolina and I had to do this on my own. This lady continued to talk on the phone as I emptied one can. After that I showed her that can and asked if that was the one she needed to go through. She said she didn't know, so I needed to do both. She said she would talk to me after she finished her cell phone conversation, with hand on hip. I was appalled!!!

I finished my job and marched in my garage and shut the door. I stunk to high heavens and I was spitting mad. I could not believe what had just happened. I don't recall being so mistreated.

I was much calmer when Scott arrived home. He really had hoped the neighbor was still home but she had fled.

Now, the phrase from Gandhi speaks of being the change we want to see. This quote could speak of many things; taking care of the environment, having a healthy lifestyle, or doing to others as we would want to be done to us. As I think of the situation yesterday, I really did not want to be treated that way. I despised going through the trash. I was mad that my children had to witness such a scene. However, I was sorry that we went onto her property to use her trash cans. I could understand her frustrations. In a similar situation I would hope that I would rise above the anger and speak the truth in love. I would hope that I would give the other person at fault, the benefit of the doubt and hear them out.

All that to say, I am challenging myself to be a kind person today.