...has happened since I last posted, almost a year ago.
Luckily for me, this isn't a diary; it's just a place where I occasionally ramble on about whatever is in my head at the moment. Sometimes I'm on here a lot. Sometimes, I go a year or more with nothing much to say. Right now, I'm saying an awful lot about nothing, but I have words in my brain that do want to come out. I just need them to formulate themselves.
I've noticed over the last several years, since I was introduced to the world of Reiki, some very big changes that happened within me, all of which happened very quietly. Most notable of these is my level of patience with people who are behaving in a way that I find toxic. I am both more patient and more impatient. I am always hopeful that with some gentle guidance, perhaps with my example to lead them, that they will catch a clue about their behavior and its negative impact. I am quite often disappointed to see that while they might observe the difference in my behavior, it isn't enough to shine light on their behavior. But then, it's a little hypocritical of me to want them to change their behavior. Especially since one of biggest toxic behaviors I've been around in the last year is a demand that everyone around a particular person should act and think like that person. (No, I'm actually not talking about the current POTUS, though this could easily apply there as well.)
I find it confounding that a person should feel insulted, slighted, or even marginalized by someone else failing to follow a "How are you?" greeting with a reciprocal status request. Just because I don't follow with that doesn't mean that I don't care about you. In fact, it most likely is because I'm just thinking about something else, so I'm only responding to the question and not thinking beyond that. I do things like hold the door open for others, let someone with fewer items in front of me at the grocery checkout, smile at strangers I encounter. I'm not antisocial. But I think that you should not expect others to respond in kind just because it's how you are brought up. People are people, and we all have stuff going on, and most of us are too wrapped up in our own pile of stuff to realize that.
