I’m not the first to say this and I won’t be the last – the world is going to hell.

There’s been a major shift in the collective attitude that means we are all completely obsessed with ourselves, more than ever before.  All we seem to care about is our own gains, our own status, our own opinions (and how to share them the loudest). For the record, yes, I spotted the irony in that last sentence.

The other day I was driving along a busy four-lane road when the driver ahead of me kept getting slower and slower, independently of the traffic in front of him.  When he was all but stopped in the middle of the road I took the opportunity to scoot past him and, as I did, I glanced into the car to see what was going on.  He was looking at a map; clearly lost but instead of finding a safe place to pull over he just stopped where he was to meet his immediate need, with no thought to the (potentially dangerous) effect this would have on other road users.

To me, this exemplifies our problem – we are so concerned with meeting our every need right now that we don’t even have an awareness of how our actions might affect those around us.

We need to start caring for and about each other again.  We need to go back to living with an awareness of how our behaviours affect everyone else, even when (or maybe especially when) surrounded by strangers.  Smile.  Be courteous.  Care.

I know, no one else bothers so why should you?  But really, what do you have to lose?  Absolutely nothing.  And if you can make someone’s day by showing them a small kindness, maybe they will remember and pass that great feeling on.

When was the last time a stranger did something nice for you?  How did it make you feel?