Just Like Me.
Walking along the streets of center city Philadelphia. Businessmen in suits on their cell phones, ardently pitching to someone unseen. Stylish women in heels with hair beautifully coifed, carefully navigating the uneven cement. Homeless people with cardboard signs; please help. Hipsters and Thirty-something ladies with up-scale strollers, or their bearded male counterparts with baby in a carrier on their chests. Slim and heavyset, young and old, walkers and joggers; all going somewhere.
Just like me.
We don’t connect
Most of us walk with eyes cast carefully down. Some look into their phones as they walk and text, or into the face of a partner. We don’t look at the Homeless person for fear they will ask for money. We don’t gaze into the face of anyone who seems threatening or too different. We move purposefully, avoiding contact with other human bodies and traffic; going wherever it is that we are going.
What if we knew each other?
What would happen if we recognized each other as human beings? What if we felt a sense of community and one-ness? Would we be comforted; perhaps less afraid?
Would we naturally feel greater compassion for each other, and less anger and aggression?
Just Like Me
If you go out into the world with the intention of experiencing one-ness, you may receive a very great benefit. Smiling just a little, into the eyes of other beings as you send loving-kindness with your mindful out-breath, is an amazing experience. Fear and criticism of the other diminishes as you realize with every step: “Just like me that person has a destination. Just like me, she wants to cross the street safely. Just like me, he is hungry for lunch. Just like me, she wishes someone would help her.”
Breathing in I am aware of the breath.
Breathing out I enter this moment.
Breathing in I am aware of everything around me.
Breathing out I am calm and unafraid.
Breathing in I smile to the world around me
Breathing out I notice human faces.
Breathing in I know; they are just like me
Breathing out I send loving-kindness
Breathing in I am one with everyone
Breathing out I am home.
May this information benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere.
-Ellen Adelman
© Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, all rights reserved.
Mind Body Intelligence tm is a trademark of
Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute.
For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com.
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