I was cut off in the car today and it didn’t bother me at all. I reflected on this and a few years ago it would have upset me. I noticed a difference in my attitude. This however is not the topic of this post. But, it made me think of the things that bind society together. Common decency and a small amount of trust. There is more to society, mind you, but these are good beginning points.
Now many will say they don’t trust anyone, this I think needs to be better defined. We typically have a small amount of trust in walking down the street and expecting most people will not walk up and do you physical harm. While driving on the road someone will not ram your car on purpose. There could be the direct consequences linked to these actions that deter people from harming others or their property. I will call both of these in some form a kind of trust.
I would suggest that there is something deeper though. There is a need for most people to be social at some level. There is an old way of thinking that helps maintain people living in close quarters and allows society to be maintained. The golden rule is probably the most popular concept of this.
I would like to suggest being mindful of your actions in all that you do but especially in situations where you directly affect other people. These very small things can affect our whole society in a large way. If you want a better world think before you are angry at someone, or cut them off, or are impatient because they are on their phone, or the reverse and you are on your phone. These things affect the people around you and have a deteriorating effect on society. I call it the glue that binds society together.
When you are on the internet don’t be anonymous as If there is no consequence to your actions. There is a consequence, the breaking down of how people interact with each other. If the only interaction you have is trolling people in a forum, take a look at how this really makes you feel, are you happy. Did your actions cause several other people to lash out in anger to other people throughout the day?
I for one want a society that I can live in without the need to physically and mentally defend myself every interaction that takes place. I want to be treated well by others so I do my best to treat them well first.
