As we look at our busy lives, it's easy to miss so much of the world around us. A while back, I wrote a story about a moment in time for me that stopped in my tracks unexpectedly and offered a new perspective. I share it with you.
The Good Neighbor
by Debbe Kennedy
I dashed out of a parking garage, mindlessly rushing down the street, acknowledging no one, only to be abruptly halted by a red light. I stood impatiently, grinding my heels into the curb, ready to leap out in front of the crowd at the first sign of green. As the light changed, an unexpected slow motion took over. My shoes tried unsuccessfully to hold me back—the heels now solidly stuck in the crevice at the edge of the curb. My body instead took over, looming forward, lifting itself through the air, then falling with a thump onto the street. The point of impact was an excruciating, jolting crash of bones as I landed on the asphalt on both knees. Next, still in slow motion, out of nowhere, came a warm hand reaching out to me. I grasped it firmly, welcoming the care and strength from this person I had not yet seen. As I lifted my head up, my eyes met the eyes of this Good Samaritan. My anguish was clearly mirrored on his brown face. “Are you all right? Let me help you,” he said without words.
My life was suddenly interrupted as I was literally “brought to my knees,” stripped of my dignity, then lifted up and mentored by a man with no place to go. He was homeless. For that moment so was I. I had passed him many times, always much too busy to notice him ― or was it just easier to look away? I never heard his voice; never wondered what he had to say or thought about what he needed. I never recognized our sameness. Amazingly, as any good neighbor would do, he had time for me when I showed up unannounced.
One seemingly unrelated event ― a few chaotic moments-in-time ― shocked me into a new level of understanding and thinking about what it means to be a good neighbor. The nameless man caused me to start asking myself some deeper questions and now I ask you:
- How many times have you rushed by a good neighbor in need? How many times have your indifference and self-interest blinded you from the needs of others all around you? How has your behavior, actions or inaction contributed, directly or indirectly, to the state of the community where you live and work?
- How many people have you unintentionally ignored in your work and life?
- How many ideas, insights and talents have you overlooked because of your own limited labels and biases?
- How well do your own actions and behaviors set an example for others about being a good neighbor?
As we move into this year, may we all be more mindful of one another and how much we need each other. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us about this truth:
"It really boils down to this: that all life is inter-related. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
Debbe
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Debbe
Debbe Kennedy, founder
Global Dialogue Center, home of Women in the Lead.
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