Everybody Has Hobbies
Everybody has hobbies. A hobby is defined as an activity, interest or pastime that is undertaken for pleasure or relaxation. Thus, even if your spare time consists of eating cookies and looking out the window, then that is your hobby.
I have several hobbies:
Spending Time With My Son. My adult son lives with me. Just experiencing our time together is an absolute pleasure.
Reading. My son and I have a personal library of over 2,000 books. I am not talking about ebooks. Our books are old school. They are mostly hard cover with bindings and pages that you turn as you read.
Net surfing. Yes, I confess. I have gone down that Wikipedia rabbit hole more times than I can count.
Watching classic tv shows on dvd’s or You Tube. Come on, how could you not like Joe Mannix?
Metaphysical studies. Digesting the content of authors such as Emmet Fox, Ernest Holmes, Neville Goddard, Stuart Wilde, et al.
Walking. The natural rhythm of one foot after the other is timeless.
Travel within the USA. I hope to get up to New England in the next five years.
Writing. I enjoy expressing what is in me with the written word.
Looking at people. You notice I use the term looking at people and not people-watching. The latter term to me denotes some type of obtrusive surveillance.
Able To Get A Sense
I have an ability to get a good feel about a person just by looking at them as they walk by. Maybe I am in a food court or an outdoor cafe. I could be walking to or from a building in a parking lot. Perhaps I am walking down a sidewalk. Even just sitting at a traffic light gives me the opportunity to look at people as they turn into my street from a left hand turn lane. There are a multitude of opportunities in any given week.
Being An Introvert Is My Destiny
I am an avowed introvert. As the saying goes, I am very comfortable in my own skin. As my life winds down to my final years, I find myself purposely engaging less and less in social interactions except those of a cursory nature. At the same time however, I find all the different types of people that I observe everyday to be fascinating. I do have an inner desire to be helpful before I depart this world. Thus, this blog, and the book that I have written, are a few examples of my acting on that desire. There are other avenues that I engage in as well.
The Eyes Reveal The Truth
While the way that a person carries himself is made up of many different facets, the eyes of a person are the most revealing. Of course, a person’s state of mind can change from one day to the next, even one minute to the next. Taking that into account, the eyes of a person are always going to be the most truthful indicator about a person. Despite what is going on in the mind, most people cannot hide what their eyes reveal (except if they are wearing sunglasses).
Twelve Different Types
In the course of my people-looking hobby, I have come up with twelve general categories. I am certain that you have encountered several of these categories. This is not a complete list by any means. With no further adieu, here is my list of observations about the people that walk by me each day.
Eyes Straight Ahead Ned
This is the guy that under no circumstances does he want any type of interaction with you. He walks from the convenience store to his car without so much as a slight look in your direction as he walks by. He is saying to himself, “I can sense that guy looking at me, maybe wanting to say good morning or something but I am just not interested. I won’t even give him so much as a glance”.
In A Hurry Terry
Terry is in a big hurry to get wherever he is going. He may be late for a date or a job interview or maybe he just has to pee. Depending on the vibes that I get, this guy may possibly be one of those guys to tailgate you in traffic and then pass you so he can get to a traffic light ten seconds faster. Terry doesn’t even see anyone else as he walks by you. He’s in a hurry.
Sneak A Peek Sammy
When I see Sammy about 15, 20 yards away, I can see that he is aware that I am looking at him. And when I say looking at him, it is merely looking in a manner that if he acknowledges me, I would simply say “Good morning” or “Howzit going” or some other brief, friendly comment. Sammy is not really interested in any of that. As he passes by however, without turning his head, he sneaks a peek over in my direction with his eyes. Then, he quickly sets his eyes squarely back on his destination without missing a beat.
Talking With Earpiece Tommy
People who wear phone earpieces are very prevalent today. When they first came out, I would always think the person would be talking to me if I was the only other person around. I would say something like, “I’m sorry, what did you say”. The person would give me an annoyed look without responding. Then I would realize that he was wearing one of those phone earpiece things. When I see Tommy coming, I understand that he is in his own little phone world. He is immersed in his conversation. Tommy wants no outside interference from passers-by.
Talking Without Earpiece Ted
This guy is one that I want to steer clear of. As soon as I see that Ted is talking but does not have an earpiece, I immediately revert to the strategy of Eyes Straight Ahead Ned. If Ted is not only talking, but shouting to himself, I make believe I forgot something in my car and start heading in the opposite direction from Ted pronto.
Happy Inside Henry
Henry is a guy that is a pleasure not only to walk past, but just to experience the vibes he sends out as he walks. This is the guy with a genuine smile in his eyes. He is a real deal happy person. If I look this guy in the eye as I am walking past, it is always met with a friendly greeting in response.
Look At Me Louie
Louie must have been ignored by his parents as a kid. Louie wants to compensate. He wants everyone around him pay attention to him. It doesn’t matter if what he is doing is genuinely entertaining or the equivalent of massive flatulence, he just wants people to look at him and acknowledge him.
A recent example occurred in the parking lot of the Wawa convenience store. Louie came into the lot riding a motorcycle that he revved to make it as loud as he possibly could. I was walking to the store’s entrance. He gave it one more unnecessarily loud rev then got off his bike. As I passed by I casually glanced at him. He had a look on his face that said, “OK everybody, here I am. Look at me”.
Don’t Look At Me Linda
The other side of the coin is the paranoid, a little bit loco en la cabeza person that does not want you to ever look at them. A recent example occurred at the library. I was there doing some peaceful research, seated at one of the long research tables. I had my laptop set up in front of me. Linda was seated at the next research table with her laptop. The manner in which we happened to be seated had us facing each other.
After a short while she came over to me table, pointed a finger in my face and said “Stop looking at me”. I started laughing thinking it was a joke at first but quickly realized that she was dead serious. Because of the bizarre nature of her request, all I could think of to say was “Get away from me lady”.
Immediately I saw she was off in the head. I decided to go over to talk to the librarian. When Loco Linda saw me, she ran over to the librarian desk and shrilly repeated, “Tell him to stop looking at me”. She then went back to her desk. After a short discussion with the librarian, it was mutually decided that I should just move to another table away from her. Peace was maintained. The irony of the whole thing was that this woman had the type of face that you did not want to look at.
Just Start Something Steve
Steve is an inherently angry person. His vibes almost shout out, “Go ahead. Just start something with me. I’ll bash your brains in”. You don’t see him very often. When you see him however, the wisest course of action is to make believe he does not exist. When I see Steve, that is precisely what I do at once. He doesn’t want a friendly “Good morning” or a smile. He is walking around with a chip on his shoulder the size of a log.
Downcast Dan
As I mentioned, the eyes are the window to the soul. Every once in awhile I will see Downcast Dan walking by. When you look into his eyes, you will see sadness and discouragement. Almost always, I say a silent prayer for Universal Mind to help him out of his discouragement. I have walked where Dan walks. It is a kind of hell that just squeezes the life right out of you.
Good Hearted Harry
This is perhaps the best type of them all. This is the guy who you just know has a good and kind heart. You can feel it. You can sense it without a word being said. It comes forth from him like radio waves. When I see Harry, I almost get a tear in my eye when I remember that there are still people like this in the world.
Bat Shit Crazy Bennie
Bennie is why you should always be alert and aware of your surroundings. Bennie is gone. The train has left the station. There is no longer any rationality in him. Whatever happened to him along the way, Bennie is a disaster waiting to happen. You do not want to engage with Bennie as his inner filters have disintegrated. As with Harry, it is something that you sense without a word being said. It is a rare occurrence to run into Bennie but when you do, be aware that he does not play by the same rules that you and I do.
Everything We Do Affects Manifesting
Everything that you think, feel, say, do and believe affects the reality that you manifest in your life. Observing people can grow your compassion, sharpen your intuition, increase your tolerance. You can use your power as a child of God to intercede on behalf of another. As led by God’s spirit within you, you can send out silent, micro-prayers of blessing and peace to another without them ever knowing.
There Is One Life
There is a portion of a mind treatment written by Ernest Holmes that goes, “There is one Life, that Life is God, that Life is perfect, that Life is my Life now”. Your life purpose is to physically express the One Presence, the One Power, through physically manifesting every good desire.
Look at the people who walk by and understand this – we are all part of the One Presence. You are a minuscule part of this Presence. You have been royally gifted to believe as you so choose. Choose wisely. Whatsoever you desire, believe that you have already received it, and you will ultimately have it.
Conceive. Believe. Receive.