Often, we expect the opposite. At the same time, we ourselves constantly want to feel useful. Guess what? So does everyone else!
Humans are wired to act. To grow. To solve problems. It’s in our nature. If anything, we tend to act too much. We’re happy in the trenches dealing with most challenges, even severe crises, but once we stop, we quickly start feeling restless. We can stress just as much, if not more, about our passivity than the many things we actively get wrong—even when we know inaction is the right choice!
Well, if you have such a boy scout attitude, perhaps most other folks might, too? So when you walk into a public office to run some errand, despite what the news report about government workers, expect the person wanting to help. When you share a problem with a colleague at work you’ve never collaborated with before, expect them to want to help. And when you approach a stranger on the street, squirming as you ask for directions, expect them to want to help—because most of the time, people do.
People are nice. People want to help. Put your faith in people, and don’t let a few rounding errors keep you from loving the world.
