Some days ago I was walking towards the subway when a blue collar Latin American immigrant man of around my age made a motion towards me. I knew he would ask for money, but I didn’t allow him to get there, with my face I made a sorry gesture and continued walking. He wished me a good day.
I immediately regretted it. I dismissed him out of my objective to get to work (I wasn't even in a rush). I believe everyone who asks for help needs to be at least listened to. It is especially people who don’t seem to need help, able bodied men of working age, those who have the most trouble getting it.
I wondered if I should turn back, but in the end decided against it. I will listen to everyone, but I wont help everyone. Should I go back and listen to him, I would feel obligated to help him. Whatever I thought, I will be more mindful next time someone asks for help.
On Sunday at the TED Talks discussion group we discussed the myths of mindfulness. At the end of our discussion the host put forward a question: “if mindfulness is not about feeling better, why would we want to be more mindful?” - “To be more present” I blurted out, tautologically embarrassing myself. Yet, nobody could give a good answer either. The host said “well, I only know this because I follow the Accept and Commit Therapy, but the reason we want to be mindful is so that we are able to act according to our values at each moment”, and boom I fully got what was meant by this statement.
No amount of moral or philosophical commitments will suffice if you are not present at the moment of truth.