A trip to Costco, and an important lesson learnt

So I was in Costco, and you know I absolutely love trying new things (pre-covid days of course). I saw this swarm of people around one of the sampling stations. “This must be good” I said to myself. But of course, I had a truck sized Costco cart which made it difficult to get lined up without blocking the isle. Being the courteous person that I am, I decided to “park” my cart on the opposite side from the sampling station – there was something boring there Gillette blades or something like that. The point is, there was no one there. So I left my cart there and went to get my sample.

I have to admit, it smelt so good and looked so good, that I had the fleeting thought of getting two samples instead of just one. But when I actually got my turn I only picked one (good little girl that I am – my mother’s voice still sounds in my ear “only take one, and say please and thank you”). 

​My prize in hand, I returned to my retrieve my cart. As I got closer I could see that the lady manning (or womaning if you prefer), the Gillette blades station was frowning at me – she was clearly unhappy. I felt like I was back in 3rd grade and Ms. Khan was glaring at me for doing something wrong. The voice inside my head said “I’m sorry, I promise I only took one”. I felt she might have read my guilty thoughts about taking more than one sample! I was wrong. She exerted visible effort not to scream and said “do you know what you just did?”. A vision flashed through my head of being walked out of Costco and banished forever. 

I think I must have shook my head and I am certain the look on my face was startled. She continued “you left your handbag in the cart – don’t you know, someone could have swiped it!” I felt relief as my body relaxed. I wanted to laugh, but instead I quickly grabbed my cart with both hands and said “that doesn’t happen in my world”. I saw her jaw drop and knew she would read me a lecture – I ran as if Ms. Khan was chasing me all the way to the Hockey Field of my old school.
Why is it that people assume the worst of each other and of the way the world works? Why is it that we can’t trust and love our fellow human beings? Why is it that when one person misbehaves we assume that everyone will do the same? It’s because many of us have stopped believing in the goodness of our fellow human beings. We make assumptions of the worst kind about people we know nothing about. Lastly, why is it that we have lost faith in God/the Universe to look after us and bring us all manner of good things?
​
If all things are possible, why do we tend to assume that negative things have a higher probability of manifesting compared to good things? We pay lip service to the concept of looking at the glass half full, but we ignore that concept in our day to day lives. Then we live our lives in fear. Fear of what might happen next; and we stop enjoying what is right there in front of us.

​What are your core beliefs? Beliefs that form the cornerstone of the way you live life? In the workbook “Reaching for Joy” I teach five core beliefs that are instrumental to joy in everyday life. I teach that we need to compare our thoughts against our core beliefs and discard those thoughts that are in opposition to our core beliefs.
​
You see, we always have a choice: we can accept what someone else is telling us to be true or we can compare it with our core beliefs in order to decide if we want to do so. Just because someone else believes in something is not a good enough reason for us to do the same.