There are a couple of sayings that run through my mind quite often when I’m out and about in the world. One is a bit obscure as it’s a skit from Kids In The Hall: A young man is on the sidewalk outside a large apt building with a cymbal and a drum stick repeating over and over again “I’ve lost my Indian drum” *crash* “I’ve lost my Indian drum” *crash*. After a couple of those the camera switches to a young man leaning out from a window above him with an indian drum and the other drum stick. “I’ve found your Indian drum” *whump* “I’ve found your India drum”. The sketch goes on for minutes alternating between the man on the street who never looks up and never acknowledges anything and the man above him trying to get his intention until finally the man with the drum yells loudly “Look skyward, Moron!”.
The other phrase I find myself thinking is “Stop hitting yourself. Why are you hitting yourself?” As if we were all back in grade school. However these two things seem to sum up so many situations I see in being around people. We get so busy with our own doingness that we don’t look skyward to hear that someone has the answer and is trying to give it to us. And in many cases people make the specific choice to do the one thing in the situation that will cause them the most grief, therefore getting beat up, not by Fate or Luck or the Universe, but really by themselves.
Usually there are two easy cures for these things, slowing down for two seconds so you can hear anyone or anything other than yourself if for no other reason than to give yourself a break and having honest friends that are willing to say “You are going to do what?” Because usually they can see you balling up your fist in prep for hitting yourself and can stop the procedure. Over time, these two things can help us develop a life view that allows us to utilize what should be but is not in wide usage: Common Sense. Here’s to being common.