People Are a Problem – An Excerpt from Goodness Abounds: 365 True Stories of Loving Kindness
I get out nearly every day and walk along the river near my home in Hachioji. I can count on seeing egrets, crows, caterpillars, butterflies, beetles, spiders, and if I am lucky, a few feral cats. One wise cat reminded me of the inherent goodness of humans. The story was first published in 2017, and the Japanese is now available here. 日本語はこちら→
People Are a Problem
As the road curved around towards the bridge, I saw the orange tabby cat sunning himself on the bank. Though I walk through his territory often, I rarely see him. I feel lucky whenever I catch a glimpse of him napping in the bushes or patrolling the river bank. Today he was sitting in plain view. I presumptuously took this as an invitation to stop and visit.
When I sat down near him on the grass, I thought he might move away. Instead, he shifted his weight and continued looking out at the river. I started to feel bad. Maybe I was intruding. Maybe he was irritated. “People are a problem” I heard in my head. I agreed and imagined all the ways people must interfere with his life – the nosey walkers like me, the dog owners, the cyclists…Crash!
I whipped my head around. There was a young boy in the middle of the road trapped under his bicycle. He must have taken the corner a little too fast. I raced over to help him and was relieved when he stood up, shocked but uninjured. After a few words, the boy got back on his bicycle and pedaled away.
With the excitement over, I looked back to my spot in the grass. The cat was gone, so I continued my walk, thinking about the boy. His accident reminded me of years ago when I, too, had crashed my bicycle. A nice lady had stopped to ask if I was ok. A thought popped into my head: “People are nice, you know.” I chuckled to myself and hoped the cat had been watching me with the boy. Maybe he would understand that sometimes people are nice. I looked up. The cat WAS watching. Had he been following me? He sat there facing the road. Facing me!
Then I got it. My exchange with the boy was not to show the tabby cat that people were nice. It was to remind me. I bowed my head and thanked him. All the way home I chanted, “People are nice, you know! People are nice.”
The English version of this story was first published in 2017 in Goodness Abounds: 365 True Stories of Loving Kindness, available on Amazon.
Subscribe to the Finding Yoyu Updates - and get a free chapter of my upcoming book. I usually send an email once a week with ways we might find or cultivate more yoyu.
About the Author:
Hi! I'm Marci. I have a dedicated spiritual practice, enjoy studying alternative-healing modalities, cooking a whole-foods flexitarian diet, and exploring Japan, where I've lived for 30 years. Learn more about my workbooks for kids, and journals for adults. Also, look for my upcoming memoir Otosan, which chronicles the five years I cared for my father-in-law, a WWII Japanese war veteran, as he navigates Alzheimer’s.
