Violence drives humans past balance and decency; it always has. At this protest in Bogata, Columbia, the police lost, and angry protesters had them surrounded. Seeing  that a serious set of beatings were about to commence, this woman jumped in between the groups. By doing so, she brought these people from primate-level violence back to their humanity.

Humans, as advanced as we are, remain vulnerable to primitive impulses. And so we may need, from time to time, to pull each other away from those vulnerabilities… as this brave lady did.

* * * * *

Before going back to the mundane, imagine being in this woman’s place… or remember a time when you saw such a situation. There is a time and place for just about everything, and pulling people back from the brink still matters to us. Either imagine or remember yourself doing it.

It’s an intriguing fact that there’s a tremendous amount of overlap between good humanitarian actions and good business actions, and this image exemplifies it. The owner of this dry cleaning store is helping people short on luck and money, doing his or her part to help them. But once they do this, it’s also natural for the people who were helped to be grateful, and to prefer their business in the future.

Real humanitarian transactions – personal giving – are voluntary and beneficial. Free market transactions are likewise voluntary and beneficial: If both parties didn’t think they’d be better off by it, they simply wouldn’t trade.

* * * * *

Before going back to the mundane, meditate for a moment on the fact that any voluntary business undertakes complex operations, rises above serious challenges, and gives people the essentials of their physical survival. This is magnificently important. And remember that in non-monopolistic dealings, no one is compelled; they are free to trade or to walk away. That is supremely moral.

The boy in this photo (inset) was dying from a rare cancer. His parents put out a request for a donor who might be genetically compatible. 5000 people, or nearly so, showed up in the rain and stood for hours, waiting to be tested.

Humans, once they are able to see the good clearly, are not just willing, but eager to help, even at great cost. That much is very clear, no matter how much dark propaganda rages against it, making us afraid of one another, and eager to cling to power.

Clinging to one another is far better than clinging to Caesars and Pharaohs; we just need to see clearly, then to see each other as we really are. Aside from a very small percentage of sociopaths, humans do poorly because of confusion, not because of innate evil.

* * * * *

Before going back to the mundane, please take a long, slow look at this image, and open your mind to the fact that all these many people, even with their errors and stupidities, showed up when they could see it mattered, prepared to help a boy they had never met.

Looking down at the Bahamas from space… it’s a riveting image, and by all accounts more powerful in person than in a photograph. It’s also crucial to understand that the space machines that made the view possible were designed, tested, built and improved by us… by our friends, neighbors and associates… by ‘regular’ people.

Because so much of the noise around space flight was captured by “national pride,” it’s easy to pass-up the fact that every piece was created and built by the same kinds of people we see in the grocery store. The glory for this does not go to some nation-state, it goes to every-day engineers, metal workers, electricians and so on.

They did not do this. We did this.

* * * * *

Now, before you go back to the mundane, spend some time with this photo: Enlarge it if you can, turn down the lights, and really experience it. Let your mind go where it will.

This is a small thing… almost trivial… a girl playing tic-tac-toe with her mailman. Except that it’s not trivial: it’s a rich connection between two human beings, adding depth to both of their lives.

Human interaction is exceedingly rich: We hold images of one another. For example, when you consider meeting a friend, you refer to that image for what times and days are best for her, what kinds of foods she prefers, would she like to sit down at all, how are her husband or children or parents doing lately, and much more.

So, a game of tic-tac-toe isn’t just a game of tic-tac-toe; it’s the formation of deep, shared and enduring images.

* * * * *

Before you go back to the mundane, please consider the depth of the images you hold of your family, friends and co-workers. Marvel a bit at how well humans can do this. See where your thoughts take you.

The woman you can just barely see in this photo was flying for the first time, and she was terrified. The many sitting next to her held her hand and held her through.

Beyond the other things that could be said about this image, consider that all of us need help coming into this world, and nearly all of us need help going out. This man, by helping a stranger in need, justified the help he’d need on his way out: He showed that he is deserving of it.

* * * * *

Before returning to the mundane, consider whether you’ve earned kindnesses… whether you’ve justified them (even earned them) in advance. If you have, you’ll build something important in yourself. And whether or not you get great kindness on your way out, you’ll know that you deserved it.

A school bus driver saw a mother struggling to get her disabled child to his bus every morning, and he knew she was living on the edge financially… that she couldn’t afford to have a proper ramp built. And so he gathered three friends. All of them collected and purchased the necessary materials, then showed up at the house on a Saturday morning.

This photo shows the men in front of the new ramp. Look at their faces; they’re the faces of men who have done something good and know it. And that’s how all of us are supposed to be, regularly.

* * * * *

So, before going into to the mundane, play with some daydreams, in which you do something like this. There are infinite variations, so pick one or two that might apply to you. Feel yourself, and your friends, living through them, then remembering them years afterward. These are potent uses of your imagination.

This story stands very nicely on its own, and so here it is, without comment:

Tonight as I was leaving football practice with my three kiddos my 4 year old was so tired he started crying and acting a fool as we were getting in the van. My 7 year old daughter started crying because I told her we were having red potatoes as a side for dinner and clearly she wasn’t a fan so I threw my hands up and said FORGET it – McDonald’s tonight!!

We go through the drive through order food all three kids are now

crying for one reason or the other I go to pay – I LEFT MY PURSE AT HOME. Well now I wanted to cry. I look at the young man with tears in my eyes just from being stressed and annoyed and say “hun I am so sorry but I have to cancel that order I left my purse at home when we went to football tonight” WITHOUT HESITATION he takes out his wallet and swipes his card before I could even say “no I will be right back!”

I was like wait no hun it’s ok I will come back through then he replies “no it’s totally fine, my pleasure”.

I snapped a quick picture and asked his name to which he replied Wyatt ma’am. I told him I would be right back with cash for him & he tried hard to talk me out of it.

I just want his parents to know how KIND & COMPASSIONATE your son was tonight! He made this stressed out momma pause for a moment and realize this is exactly what we parents are trying to do, raise great humans. Well Wyatt sir, you are an amazing human!!!

I went back and handed him cash and had to make him take it because he didn’t want to take more than he had paid but I wanted him to know that when you put good out in the world it comes back to you ten fold!

Wyatt, do not let this world change your kind heart young man for its people like YOU that will change this world for the better!”

This is a photo of the first business to return after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and it’s a wonderful example of a key human characteristic: Initiative. Even though the city was in ruins, this fruit merchant found some produce to sell, an intact desk, a couple of barrels, and went right back to work.

Note also that he was selling his fruit for the old prices, rather than raising them, even though he probably could have. That says that he was either a humanitarian, understood long-term commerce, or most likely both.

Self-generated actions like this are the ones that really matter, and disasters form a backdrop against which they stand out. But whether we notice them or not, the taking of initiative is crucially important, both to the human race and to us as individuals.

* * * * *

So, before going back to the mundane, please recount an event in your life where you acted solely upon your own initiative. Or, start imagining such actions. They matter far more than we’ve been led to believe.

When he was 13 years old, James Harrison needed 13 liters of blood for a crucial surgery. At 18, he began donating blood, in appreciation and to pay something back.

To everyone’s surprise, James’ blood contained a rare antigen that cures Rhesus disease. He has since donated blood a thousand times and has saved more than two million babies from the disease.

Humans, when faced with a clear opportunity to do something good, rise to the occasion, as this gentleman has done for many years.

* * * * *

Please take a moment to put yourself into this man’s position, and go slowly through the mental and emotional processes he went through. Imagine them carefully and in detail. Once you’re done, and if you need to go back to the mundane, please wade back in slowly.