A quick thought this evening came to mind as I went to use the restroom here at work. It's late to be at work, almost 8:00 PM now! The cleaning crew has to work around our late schedule which throws them off their game a bit.
I approached the restroom and noted that they had just finished the ladies room (which meant I didn't have to go to a different floor). I walked in noting the slightly damp floor and found a stall, I sat down and out of no-where the door to the restroom opens and the cleaning lady shoves a wet floor sign in. My thoughts, "do they set out signs in other countries to inform people that the floor is wet? It's obvious isn't it, but then we are a litigious country and have signs to inform of the obvious everywhere."
What would happen if we didn't allow for lawsuits for things that should be obvious? In this case the cleaning lady was just in, the floors might be wet so I should take extra care. If I slip, I learn a lesson, be careful on a wet floor. What would happen if we only allow lawsuits for intentional acts of harm to others? Wouldn't we have a better and more congruous society with wiser and more responsible people? I think so. Possibly I am overlooking a lot of things in this assumption.
This train of thought brought me to the idea of mindset. To some extent we are all fighting with our inner ego. I've been hurt, the natural reaction is to lash out and perhaps seek revenge. Doing this gets me a negative place in the balance of my psyche. I am in essence adding to the negativity in my life and exacerbating the condition of being wronged.
We do this as people, we do this as countries. When a slight has been perceived we react, but there is a space where we can choose in-between the event and what we do or how we react. As Victor Frankle puts it in his book "Man's Search For Meaning."
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
I recommend this book wholeheartedly!
In any case, those have been my brief thoughts on being pro-active and re-active for the night.
SG
I approached the restroom and noted that they had just finished the ladies room (which meant I didn't have to go to a different floor). I walked in noting the slightly damp floor and found a stall, I sat down and out of no-where the door to the restroom opens and the cleaning lady shoves a wet floor sign in. My thoughts, "do they set out signs in other countries to inform people that the floor is wet? It's obvious isn't it, but then we are a litigious country and have signs to inform of the obvious everywhere."
What would happen if we didn't allow for lawsuits for things that should be obvious? In this case the cleaning lady was just in, the floors might be wet so I should take extra care. If I slip, I learn a lesson, be careful on a wet floor. What would happen if we only allow lawsuits for intentional acts of harm to others? Wouldn't we have a better and more congruous society with wiser and more responsible people? I think so. Possibly I am overlooking a lot of things in this assumption.
This train of thought brought me to the idea of mindset. To some extent we are all fighting with our inner ego. I've been hurt, the natural reaction is to lash out and perhaps seek revenge. Doing this gets me a negative place in the balance of my psyche. I am in essence adding to the negativity in my life and exacerbating the condition of being wronged.
We do this as people, we do this as countries. When a slight has been perceived we react, but there is a space where we can choose in-between the event and what we do or how we react. As Victor Frankle puts it in his book "Man's Search For Meaning."
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
I recommend this book wholeheartedly!
In any case, those have been my brief thoughts on being pro-active and re-active for the night.
SG
No comments:
Post a Comment