Small Acts of Energy

Yesterday I was leaving the grocery store when the woman in front of me stopped abruptly, right in the exit, blocking the doors. 

For a second I felt irritated but soon realized she was old, and by old I mean white hair, slight build, Grandma old. 

And so I stood behind her waiting for her to finish counting her change or what have you, until presumably she’d get going again. 

A moment or so later I heard huffing and puffing behind me. Turning around I found a woman rubber necking around me and angrily eying Grandma.

Grunting and mumbling, she moved past me, darted by Grandma and walked through the doors. She paused with just enough time to look over her shoulder with one of those fuck off looks and muttered something to Grandma about exists and blocking and time… 

I couldn’t help but laugh. She must have been on some sort of highly important, time sensitive mission. 

This story isn’t unusual, is it? It’s actually typical. It’s any parking lot. It’s every grocery store. It’s rush hour. It’s Saturday’s. It’s December.

It amazes me how in a rush we all are. And I’m in a rush, too. I just happen to have a soft spot for the elderly so while I was busy gazing at Grandma the lady behind me was doing what most of us would be doing: reacting.

We forget that everything we do matters. In the big, cosmic, universal scheme of things, it does.

Because we’re made up of energy, in each interaction we have there is an exchange of it. Energy for energy. And we’re either energizing those around us or depleting them.

So, are you an energizer or energy thief?

It takes a great deal of effort to decide to be an energizer, and the bulk of it is in the conscious decision of it all. It’s especially hard out in the real world of long grocery lines, call centre queues, and restaurants. It’s easy to be a thief out there. To be impatient, rude, and treat others like shit.

Call it positivity, good vibes, karma… I call it a small act of energy. To practice small acts of energy we must awaken ourselves up to the possibility in each interaction we have and challenge ourselves to make it a positive, kindness filled one.

There are so many ways we can practice a small act of energy. It’s as easy as practicing patience for others. This is especially powerful in parking lots. Or smiling in public, talking to strangers, or being overly friendly to retail clerks. Actually, going out of your way to be kind to service people is the gold star in small acts of energy.

The beauty of a small act of energy is that it’s all karma; it’s a boomerang, baby. Everything you put out comes back. And the more often we do it, the easier it is to do; and then the easier it is to do it, the more often we do it….

What are the small acts of energy you practice? Tell me about it in the comment section.

G

Photo Credit: Steve Daws