Dear God, let me share with you some thoughts about the kind of people I like. I like people who are warm and friendly. People who act as if it is not important to them whether I am in their presence make me feel unnecessary.
I like people who greet me when I walk into a room. People who treat me as if I am invisible give me the impression that I am not significant or necessary to their existence.
I like people who say “thank you” for the things they have received from others. People who ignore this social grace give me the feeling that they see what has been given them as an entitlement not a gift.
I like people who are interested in me. People like that make me profoundly interested in them.
I like people who do not give me unwanted advice. They make me feel as if I am accepted and appreciated just as I am.
I like people who do good things for others and then suffer amnesia so the rest of us don’t have to suffer their wearisome re-telling of their goodness toward others.
I like people who will kneel on one knee to talk to an elderly person sitting in a chair or to a little child who walks into a room so neither of these people will be forced to look up to see eye to eye with them.
I like people who form negative judgments about other people slowly and, once they do, find a way to forgive them quickly.
I like people who take the smallest piece of food on the plate so others can have the bigger pieces. This helps to clarify for me what it means to be both unselfish and generous at the same time.
I like people who like people more than principles because the one is so real and the other is just an abstraction.
I love it, dear God, when the people I meet are like the people I like. They are the perfect lubricant I need for what can sometimes be a very abrasive day.
Love,
Larry.
