LAW OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK

[Guest guest]

LAW OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK

 

How often do we let other people's temper affect our mood? Do we let

a terrible driver, or a rude comment ruin our day?

 

The mark of a spiritual aspirant is how quickly we can regain our

focus on what is important. One man learnt this experience while in

the back of a New York City cab. Here's what happened.

 

He was traveling in a taxi, on his way to Grand Central Station. All

of a sudden, without warning, a black car jumped out of a parking

space right in front of them. The taxi driver slammed on his brakes,

skidded and missed the other car's back end by inches.

 

Then, the driver in the other car, who nearly caused a huge accident,

whipped his head around and started abusing the taxi driver.

 

But the taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. The startled

passenger said, " Why did you take it so easy? The guy almost caused

your car to crash and send us to hospital! " The taxi driver laughed

and then related what he called, " The Law of The Garbage Truck. "

 

" Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of

rubbish, filled with frustration, bursting with anger, and packed

with disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to

dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone

wants to dump it all on you, don't take it personally. You just

smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be glad you did. I

assure you. "

 

The passenger started thinking how regularly he let garbage trucks

run right over him? And how frequently he took his own garbage and

spread it onto other people, at work, at home, or on the streets? It

was that day he promised to himself, " I'm not going to do it

anymore. "

 

Over time he learnt how to distinguish when a " Garbage Truck " was

coming to dump all over him. He noticed the junk they were carrying

and prepared himself to avoid it all being unloaded onto him. Like

the taxi driver, he did not make it a personal thing; he just smiled,

waved, wished them well, and moved on.

 

In His own inimitable way, Bhagavan also tells us:

 

" Be always saturated with Love. Do not use harsh words against

anyone, for words wound more fatally even than arrows. Speak softly

and sweetly. Sympathise with suffering with an unshaken faith. "

 

Adapted from " Let the Garbage go by... " By David J. Pollay

Illustrations: S. Aditya, SSSU

- Heart2Heart Team

 

Ram Chugani

Kobe, Japan

rgcjp