A Happier Story…For Difficult Times

Yesterday afternoon I was able to help my neighbors pack up their moving van. They left this morning for Alabama. They will be missed. My wife and I were able to help in the afternoon and some other neighbors helped earlier. During the packing we learned that while the other neighbors were helping, someone had walked into their garage and stole 2 new bicycles. #SelfishSelflessSynergy Although this is not a great start to a happy story, it gets better…

Later that evening, after we had finished packing their truck to move, my wife and I and took our dogs on their nightly walk. As we passed another neighbors house, we saw what  appeared to be a nice bike sitting by a tree outside. Concerned, thinking they may have mistakenly left their bike outside, I rang the doorbell. When they answered, I shared my concern about their bike because we just learned that another neighbors bike had been stolen. In this conversation they explained the bike was not theirs. They said the bike was on their lawn in a heap. They said it looked like someone had crashed on it and left it on their lawn.

The thoughtful neighbor picked up the bike, repaired the damage, and put it by a tree in front of their house. They thought someone may have been hurt and the owner would come back. They put the fixed bike in front of their house by a tree so the rider would be able to see the bike and retrieve it when they came back. After the discussion, thinking this may be related, they suggested I walk down the street to the neighbors whose bike was stolen. As it turns out, it was one of the stolen bikes. The boy was very happy to get his bike back.

In addition to getting the bike back, we all got to know each other better then we had previously. This incident helped us see our similarities. We all wanted the bike returned and each of us, though my part was minor, helped make it possible. Everybody, though a bit disappointed by the theft, was able to leave feeling a bit better knowing that we all are looking after each other. And yes it was a mix of people, young, old, middle aged, male, female, brown, black and white.

All in all, we were able to experience a net positive by taking actions to generate comprehensive improvements. We now have a better, more caring neighborhood, by creating pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits. We all feel more secure knowing others care. 

It was fun to realize that we were able to Practice Paneugenesis and generate comprehensive improvements. I look forward to hearing how you do the same. Please share…

Be Well’r,