i was out on my walk this morning when i saw the trash
truck barrelin' my way. the street isn't all that wide
and i have this idea that if i get out of their way a
bit, it's not only safer for me, but it spreads good will.
grin.
no kidding.
that's pretty goofy, isn't it?
well....maybe not......because i crossed the street to get
out of the way of the biggest weeds, and stepped into the
smaller weeds on the other side. i didn't really want to step
in the weeds as i didn't want to get ticks or chiggers, but
figured it would be quick enough. so i stepped right in.
stood there. watched them comin' with a grin on my face.
these guys are familiar. see them on lotsa walks. and there
was the driver......giving the goofiest, friendliest, warmest
wave you could possibly give someone. my heart melted and i
gave him the goofiest, friendliest wave i could back.
they barreled on, i stepped outta the weeds still grinnin'.
as i walked, i thought about life.....
about the people that i find most challenging....
why couldn't i think of them as the garbage man......
barrelin' down my little street in life. kinda loud and so there
that i couldn't really ignore them......dangerous if i stay in
the way of their path....but really okay if i step into the weeds.
i can pick which weeds....don't step in the really big ones...
go to the smaller ones.....
i don't have to like stepping in the weeds, but if i know it's
for just a moment to let them pass, if i can send them a goofy
wave and let them keep goin....well, that would be great!
no chiggers, no ticks.......just step on out and leave the weeds
behind....
i started gettin' into this...
yeah... BUT the real trash man doesn't ask me to sit in the garbage
and go for a ride with him.
these challenging people do that.
well.....what if the real garbage man DID do that?!
i laughed as i thought of it.
well, easy.....i'd either look at him like he's outta his mind
and laugh and say no thanks, i'm walkin'. or i'd try to not show
that i thought he was outta his mind, laugh and say no thanks,
i'm walkin'.
the no thanks, i'm walkin' was a definite. of course. the laughter
came easy cause i couldn't take it seriously.
well???
why don't i do that?!
it seemed so easy when i looked at it that way!!!
if the real trash man asked me if i wanted to have tea with him....
well....i MIGHT. depends. what i thought his motives were. if they
seemded friendly enough, okay. i would. but that's it. i'd have tea
and move on. wave the next time i saw him.
well???
how about that with the challenging people in my life??
ohhhhhh..........this whole thing could work for me!
it actually made so much sense to me as i walked along!
and the laughter......the not taking it seriously.....the letting
it just come and go......
wouldn't this just be so awesome?!
that trash man this morning.....
he just made my whole day!!!
and i gotta say.......besides being a wonderful visual for my life...
i think he's a really wonderful man. you can't exude the goofy warmth
he did this morning and not have a wonderful heart.....
i toast him in so many ways this morning!
and i'm so glad he's out there....
1 comment:
garbage synchronicity: You and I both have had garbage "men" in our thoughts.
This morning is trash day in our little village. I woke up to the sound of the big old garbage truck lumbering along like some big old hungry pac man gobbling up all the garbage we generate. I was thinking 'bout the fact that I never see the garbage men or their truck, just hear the trucks and the cans are empty when I go out to the curb. We're in a pickle when they don't show up and do their job! I appreciate what they do so much! Here I read about your encounter with your garbage men. I was also thinking about how much stinkier is the garbage that we don't put out for the trashman to pick up. You know...that garbage we hang onto because we just can't get our selves to "take it to the curb". Sometimes it's our own garbage, but sometimes it's a load of garbage someone else has dropped on us and left us to deal with.
There have been times when I thought I would smother beneath all the garbage in my life. But little by little, first in small amounts and then later in big amounts when I was feeling stronger, I've "taken it to the curb" to have it put where it really belongs, where all the bullshit can be transformed and recycled to grow something beautiful or give warmth to homes and all the other amazing things they can do with our garbage now. and the best thing about it? my life smells so much better! :-)
Yesterday one of my clients asked me "how can you stand to listen to all the garbage you hear from other people every day?" I guess I'm a kind of garbage man sometimes too. My reply to the client was, "I listen so they don't have to carry the garbage to the curb all by themselves, but if they don't let go they have to go on carrying it until they do" I'm glad I have trash collectors in my life. And it's a privilidge to be able to help others kick their shit to the curb :-)
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