Putting My Practice to Work
By Jerry Harris

On Saturday I helped my Aunt move. She has moved a lot of times in her life and many times I have helped her. I was used to arriving at her house expecting to move packages and furniture only to find that the packing was not done and the furniture not broken down. Leading up to this day, I kept acknowledging that I was not present as I would dread the moving day. I quickly got over the dread as I realized that I was not present and it was not happening to me at that moment. I would then focus on what was happening to me at that moment. So on Saturday I was in a good mood and ready to be patient and helpful.

After Greg and I arrived at my Aunt's home, we quickly did a walk through of what needed to be moved and what was going into storage. Since this move was supposed to be a permanent move, I had questions as to why she was storing furniture that she will never use. It turned out that she had promised the furniture to some friends at her church. So I asked in a gentle non-threatening way, why don't they take the furniture today? She said they were not yet ready to take it but would be ready in a month or two. In the past I would have either kept my angry mouth shut or I would have said something negative that may have started an argument. Today, I was able to kindly state that I did not think that was a good idea simply because it was going to cost her a lot of money to keep her promise. The storage unit was over $90 per month.

I do not know how but she changed her mind and we took the furniture to charity. I do know that my practice helped me in this conversation. I was calm but persuasive. I was concerned for all parties without making anyone look like the bad guy. I think I helped her understand that she would be getting the raw deal having to pay a lot of money to give away some furniture. I saw this as very successful and a good example of the power of presence.