Restocking Your Soul

I’ve been think about karma lately, sadly, mine has been a little lacking. So yesterday when I went to the local grocer I decided I was going to exude good karma. It’s such an easy thing to do really, a smile here, an “after you” there. I wonder why we don’t always treat one another as friends? Are we so busy and self-important we feel the need to demand everyone else get out of our way and wait for us first? As luck would have it, I had the opportunity to practice my good karma right away. When I walked through the produce section, a woman was rummaging through the ears of corn, picking out the pieces she wanted to buy. She had placed the cart in such a manner I couldn’t walk past her. After a few moments she noticed me and apologized profusely for blocking the lane, I simply stated, “It’s okay, take your time, I’m not in a hurry.” You would have thought I had offered her a weeks paid vacation she smiled so hugely. My second opportunity came in the bakery, as I approached, an elderly gentleman did a quick u-turn, looked at me smiled and said, “I saw you try to run me over.” Feeling his need for interaction, I matched his smile and made a comment about “well you know us women drivers.” I could have smiled and walked on, but by teasing along with him, I made his day just a little less lonely. I can see and feel loneliness in others since I wear so much of it about myself. Most markedly after work when I shut my condo door behind me and remark, “hallo lonely.” My next opportunity was a simple observation, along the cereal aisle a woman was singing along to the music being played over the loudspeaker. As a person whose friends pay her not to sing, I have a jealous ear for all those who have the gift of singing. It was so simple to smile at her and say, “I love the sound of your voice.” I am sure she knows she sings really well, but how would you feel if a person you didn’t know acknowledged how wonderful your voice is? So simple, but such impact.

Take from? As karma boosting days go, I think the grocery store was an A+ experience. But after reading last weeks blog and thinking about it, I realized I missed the big picture. Many of us, I would almost think all of us, have a punishing critical voice in our heads. The sad truth is every time we make a mistake and the little voice yells at us it sidetracks us from productively figuring how to fix what we did wrong. For example, last week my little voice said, “You’re so dumb, you lost a Second Life friend, you will never find another.” If I turn the sentence just a little, it speeds up the grief process and gives me a little hope. How so? If I let my little voice have its rant, “You’re so dumb, you lost a Second Life friend, you will never find another one,” but add the rather realistic ending “another one exactly like him.” It goes a long way to eliminate the guilt of my actions but also creates the unanticipated possibility that I will be able to find another one. Karma meter back in the positives.. check! I hope your Monday isn’t a high-gravity one!

Outfit:

Hair: Tutys, Adorable
Jacket: Erratic, Vanity
Latex shorts and top: Drift, Oblivion *NEW*** (with color change!)
Boots: Miamai, Hiatus
Necklace/Earring: [Mandala], Nyorai/Tefutefu *NEW***
Handbag: (Milk Motion), Spotted Clutch
Pose: Manifeste, Model 564