Knowing what to do and putting it into practice are two very distinct concepts. For me, implementation remains a continuous and, sometimes, frustrating process.
Case in point: I continue to grow through my neighbors. In this post, we won’t even get into the loud music, the roaring cars making screeching circles (“donuts”) in the street, the drugs, abandoned and stripped cars, etc. Today we will deal with trash only. I have tried to speak to my neighbors and their guests nicely and explain why I don’t like them to throw trash in front of my house.
I’ve told them: “You’re not doing this only to me. You’re not respecting yourselves. This is your neighborhood, your community. Is this how you want to live?” It’s like my outer calm infuriates them. They curse and discard more trash, most likely mirroring my inner turmoil.
I started sweeping the trash in my yard out into the street because I’m so tired of daily picking up other people’s liquor bottles, condoms, cigarette butts, fast food boxes, and other rubbish. It would take me less than 5 minutes to pick up the trash and then it would be gone. But the way I do it, it lasts infinitely. Because I sweep it out into the street, I still see it every day in front of my house. When it rains, it becomes soggy and glued to the asphalt. Other people see the trash. I guess they feel that it’s a dump, so they also throw their debris there. I then have more trash. Wet gooey trash. The situation worsens.
So I started thinking: “what is going on? Why must I live like this?”
My first mind, the part that gets irritated, says: “These people are wrong! I have a right to be angry and respond accordingly! Why can’t I have decent and considerate neighbors? Why do I have to live in a crappy neighborhood?”
The observing and objective part of my mind says: “And?? Pick up the trash and move on instead of letting it linger. Every time you see the trash you get angrier and angrier. There are other things to get angry about. This is not one of them. Stop thinking about what bothers you. Think about what you want and how you would like things to be.”