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I first heard this quote when I watched show on the life of an eccentric philanthropist businessman in Toronto, the infamous Ed Mervish. Ed spoke of how he took Penn’s quote to heart and decided to live his life by that message, doing what he could for people when he saw the need.
One of the results was a business Mervish ran that he opened in 1948, a discount store called Honest Ed’s. The store motto comes out of Ed Mervish’s great good humour: Welcome, don’t faint at our low prices, there’s no place to lie down.
We can all take a hint from Ed, don’t put off into the future all of those wonderful things we could be doing today. To be able to give a simple smile and an offering of support, instead of endlessly being stuck in our own rut of grouching and moaning about our own fates, this simple difference can transform our lives.
There are stumbling blocks. We often feel it’s too much, too hard, or too expensive to really pitch in and help out. But, instead of looking at it as an all at once activity, consider that we can be doing it all along. Little bits here and there along the way, so that by the time we’re at the end of our lives and finished with our poor worn bodies, we’re feeling pretty happy about the path we left behind us, and all the people, creatures, and growing things that we had contact with.
Once past that mental block, the next step we need to take care of before we set out to help others is to help ourselves. For instance, in our Western society we often live in our heads. As a result, we can become obsessively self-oriented, often losing the connection we have to other living beings. Fortunately there are many methods that can help with this problem.
Some ways to get you out of your own head:
• Try to take your awareness out of your head and place it, instead, in your belly. This is the Traditional Chinese Medicine way of switching from a cerebral to a more physically grounded perspective. How do you do it? You just do it. Say, ‘I’m here in my brain…now I’m down here in my belly.’ Let go of the idea that our minds need to reside where our eyes are.
• Release your tensions downward. It’s incredibly difficult to get out of your head when tension in your neck and shoulders keeps you bound there.
When it comes to helping out, there are more ways to accomplish this goal than I can possibly list here. Some starting off points:
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• Next time you’re going to launch into a tirade, don’t. There are so many better ways to deal with anger than to try to squash the person in front of you. Try reading some self-help books, seek counseling, or get a copy any of Pema Chodron’s books and consider ideas she puts forth.
• Plant some flowers. In some European countries, every available piece of yard is brimming with an uproar of bright blooms.
• Don’t let the fear of ridicule stop you from doing some good deed. Since childhood, we’ve been conditioned to avoid, at all costs, getting centered out and laughed at. So what, if it happens? Yes it hurts, but if you always avoid doing things because of this fear, you’ll stop ‘living’ your life.
• Take good care of yourself. If you’re not healthy, you’re likely not happy.
• Donate. Donate some of your time, money, or experience.
Keeping the quote in mind, if you knew you’d never likely be through a particular time or place in your life again, what actions of yours would you like to be able to look back on?
Retake on What I Learned from Honest Ed:
A New Year Thought
That is the sound of a southern Ontario winter, cars crunching by on frozen slush, the news spilling forth stories of fatal shootings in the Toronto Megacity area, a home invasion where six people were tied up and injured, major car accidents that resulted in death, a child abducted.
I had nightmares all morning of invaders breaking into through the basement windows, creeping up the stairs. I kept waking up thinking, “I don’t have my phone. It is downstairs.” “I don’t have a weapon.” Would I hear the creak of feet climbing the stairs or would I sleep through? When would I wake? When the door opened, or when someone had me in a sleeper hold?
I can’t say I had these fears in Atikokan. In Atikokan my fears included hitting a moose on the highway, spinning out on an icy highway, house fires, going through the lake ice while skiing or ice fishing, being attacked by a bear while biking.
In the south it seems you tend to be at the mercy of other people, in the north it is more of an elements issue. Which is a sweeping general statement to be sure.
As the New Year approaches I relish the sunlight that presently spills in through the windows. The end to a relentless number of dark and rainy days. Even though the frozen slush shows tentative signs of melting, there is still light reflecting from its crystalline white surface. I look forward to the longer days. Hopefully more light filled days.
Actually that does happen in this neighbourhood of friendly neighbours. So I’m not in the thick of things that is for sure. Just half an hour from the thick of things. Sorry, that’s not correct, I’m actually 10 minutes by bike in the thick of things. I forgot about the fatal broken bottle stabbing about a month ago that occurred on the bike trail I regularly bike.
Bad news can happen anywhere, anytime. I think it’s important to do what good you can while you are where you are. It’s so easy to say a hurtful thing, crush someone’s feelings, make someone feel bad. Too easy. That parlays into an unhelpful dark chain of events. With all the unpredictable bad things that can occur, I’d think it is our responsibility as human beings to be kind. To do good things.
I’ve mentioned Honest Ed Mervish in a prior article. He was a compassionate and brilliant Toronto businessman who did a lot of good. He lived large and made a difference. A quote he lived by was one by William Penn, “I expect to pass through life but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do for any fellow being, let me do it now...as I shall not pass this way again.”
That could be said about a specific location or about a specific time in your life. You have the power.
Wishing you all a very Wonderful New Year!
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Photo Credit: Tom Sshmore (tag), Brandon Blinkenberg (winter sun), and ‘Mattox’ (shovel)
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