After the Inauguration I came across several people that had tried to go downtown and didn’t have a wonderful experience. This shook me up. I had one of the best experiences of my life so everyone must have had a fantastic time too. How shallow of me! One of my friends works for a local newspaper. She hadn’t been given a press pass but wanted to get a story anyway. So she set about fighting the throngs of people and traffic in the early morning hours. Unfortunately, her co-worker ran late and they never got to the mall in DC. On the phone she regaled me with her frustration. It was hard for me to keep my thoughts in check. My ego wanted to condemn her immediately. After all, it all comes down to prior proper planning my ego said.
But wasn’t it me who had lost my money on the way downtown my higher self reminded me, so why had I been so lucky. The fact is I was not lucky. I had received compassion from another human being. Officer Paige had seen the innocence in me. After all, your experiences are a state of mind—and all you need is a good attitude. I guess this is why good things happen to some people and not to others.
When we hear stories like my friend’s our brains are very quick to judge and separate their pain from ourselves. We instinctively blame them and assign them guilt in order to congratulate ourselves on our apparent success. We rationalize the situation. “If they had only woken up earlier like I did” our ego whispers. “If they had left without their co-worker they would have been all right.” All of these statements, however true, serve to isolate us from others.
The very next day I got an email from another close friend at church whose grandchildren were ticketed guests of the inauguration. They too had not made it to their final destination. Why did I make it to the mall, but not these others? I had a case of survivor’s guilt. Since nothing happens by accident, I asked God “why am I having this experience? Why are you showing me this?”
The still small voice inside my head said, “So you will learn compassion.” I need to learn to not blame others for their misfortunes.
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