I am the One! Wait... no, I'm not.

Oh, man. Ego.
Such a thing to wrestle with.
The most formidable foe.

In Robert Thurman's 'The Jewel Tree of Tibet' he mentions that everyone thinks "I am the One. The real One!"
Is this innate, or is this Mother Culture? (for more on Mother Culture you should read 'Ishmael' by Danial Quinn. Good read.)
Studies on Self-awareness (as outlined here on Wikipedia) lean towards the innate function of 'self'' from very early on. From there it progresses as we interact with the world around us to the point we are able to recognize ourselves in a mirror and eventually in the abstract as being able to see ourselves as others might.

As the perceiver, how else are we supposed to view ourselves but as 'the One'?

But do we not learn over and over that virtue is cornerstone to our personal well-being?
Doesn't part of us just seem to know that altruism is our highest purpose?  Do we not feel that through guilt every time we are walking through the parking lot and don't stop to offer help to the elderly lady struggling to load her groceries?

We have been fed a different doctrine all of our lives.
The survival of the fittest. Dog eat dog.
The meek may inherit the Earth, but right now, by God, it's mine!

If we pause just a moment to smile at a stranger in passing (not in a creepy way), what are the odds that they don't smile back?  Very slim in my experience.

At the very least we can follow what has become my number one tenet of the day, every day: Don't be an a**hole.
At the very least, I should be able to go through my day and try not to cause grief in someone else's.

But, man, is that hard. :p
Sometimes.

But the more I practice it, the easier it gets. The more apt I am to let whatever slide off like water off a ducks back.

First, you try to see things from the other persons point of view. Because they are 'the One'. What makes my 'the One' better than theirs?
Eventually, the goal is to not even do that. To not pass judgement at all. We shouldn't have to find an excuse for anything. Our own or anyone else's actions.
Just reside in our own state.
And when we stop seeing or looking for excuses, we become emboldened by our own actions. We become responsible.
And when we are responsible, we can do anything.
We can step outside that box that we have build around us and we can stop and offer a hand.
We can smile without fear of being weird.
We can dance in the aisles of the grocery store (I do this often!). It's great.

We can be 'the One' that makes someone else's day.
And I believe that perpetuates.

It is through the small things that we change the world.
And we change it. Every. Single. Day.