Be considerate to others

One of the kindest things we can do is being considerate to others. By keeping this thought uppermost in our minds, we can watch our every act and try to enforce this. I have seen people who show little acts of courtesy all the time like talking softly in public places or switching their phones in silent mode, like wearing a deodorant, like keeping doors open for the next person coming in, like offering a seat to another needy person etc. etc. Such people are really very cultured and thoughtful.

Being considerate to others is being selfless. I once read a message in a public toilet which said "After use, please leave the toilet exactly as you would have liked it to be when you came in". Very powerful. When we are through with using things, do we care for the next user? Do we leave the leave the toilet or the wash basin clean & dry after use? Many of these acts are really very small and perhaps may skip our attention at times. However, these are big statements about our mindset and our approach to others.

When we start being considerate to others, we trigger a chain reaction and we become triggers for a movement in these lines. People who watch us closely cannot but notice our behaviour and become influenced by it. This is especially true for children whose minds are being moulded and are not yet "hard coded". Our teaching by "demonstration" is more powerful than any form of lecturing or intellectualising.

In India, there is a place called Lucknow which is famous for such cultured behaviour. People will always offer the first right of use to the next person by saying "Pehle Aap" which means "First You". Each one would sacrifice their right and be more upright than the other. What if this becomes the culture of the world - where the self gets relegated to a secondary position? Would the world not be a lovely place to live if everyone displays such considerate behaviour?