Being entangled in the stress of modern life, many of us have forgotten the power of kindness. In fact, we tend to think that the ones who are kind are immature or even silly, because in our eyes they don’t have the right mentality to deal with the competitive world around them.
The truth, however, is quite the opposite. Kind individuals are the most emotionally mature ones — they don’t take things personally, even when people are unkind to them, because they can understand where unkindness comes from and how negative its impacts are.
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches!
The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!” This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck.’
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they’ll dump it on you. He said: “Don’t take it personally, just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.” [1]
People are filled with myriad problems they feel unable to resolve. In such a confused state of being, they usually behave unkindly. But it is up to you how you will deal with them. You might take things personally and react to them in an unkind way too, or you can respond mindfully with a compassionate attitude that may help brighten their life, and wisely avoid accumulating in your psyche the same kind of emotional garbage they are carrying within them.