The Friday before last I drove to work in the midst of drivers acting like idiots. It inspired me to wonder how the Dalai Lama might treat the idiots in traffic, if he would be as tempted as I am sometimes to show them the error of their ways. It falls into my general deep philosophical thinking that we’re all on the planet to teach and help each other: we can all be angels to someone.
I posted my thought and then went about my way, thinking that was the end of it.
Then on Thursday, a close friend died after a traffic accident on that very same highway. As I again drove by the scene of that horrific accident, I was startled to have a thought pop into my head:
Let them, it said.
I was astonished, as I wasn’t really expecting an answer to my question. It had been just a silly question I had and then had forgotten about. Nor was it the answer I expected. This was most definitely the answer, though.
Let them. These two words were a profound epiphany.
If someone’s making a mistake, let them make it. Failure is a better teacher than success. How can someone learn when someone else is always bailing them out? Let these misguided individuals choose their behavior and learn their own lessons from it. I don’t have to correct them because sooner or later they will correct themselves.
I realized I gained nothing by letting idiot drivers bother me, and I realized that it applies to almost everything. The balance of karma rules the day. Each of us is both the student and the teacher. One day these people will see themselves through the eyes of those they’ve affected and then their mistakes will be made crystal-clear. I can’t possibly teach anyone better than they can teach themselves. What it boils down to is that the only life I can be responsible for is my own.
I smiled at this thought, and was extra-courteous for the rest of my drive home.