This week has been a roller coaster for just about all of us as we either faced the vicious and capricious wrath of  Super-Storm Sandy/current Nor’easter Storm, in a way just as worse, helplessly stood by and watched it unfold on live TV as our friends and loved ones endured it.

Either way, we’ve been reminded just how precious are the gifts of health and wellness, freedom and safety, and, most important, life itself. At times like these, the material things that we in our culture place too much importance on, indeed, take a back seat, as we both witness and acknowledge that we can lose it all in a thrice.

What was particularly striking to me, however, is that catastrophes like Sandy place the very essence of humanity on stark display

Sadly, we see our worst qualities as expressed by those (thankfully few) individuals who have lost their sense of being part of a greater whole, and have become so selfish and greedy that they place themselves above the rest of us. I feel sorry for those folks; they are lost and ultimately have to live with themselves and their deeds; and I do believe what goes around comes around from an energetic perspective.

And on the other side of that coin, we see our best qualities, as individuals transcend themselves for the greater good, acting in community and cooperation, showing compassion, kindness, generosity and consideration for one another; remembering that we are, indeed, all one tribe, all one species, and when we work together we can overcome any obstacle. Not to be political, but to paraphrase president Obama, “At times like this, we are not republicans or democrats, we are Americans.” I’d like to take that a step further; we are all one people, united for the greater good, for our transcendence over trial and travail.

So, you may be asking, what’s his point? Simply this: Why wait for disaster to strike to display our best qualities? Why not commit to thinking and acting in terms of the greater good just because it feels better and makes life a little or a lot more pleasant, because it’s a better way to behave? How? Well, here are 5 simple tips to get you started.

• Allocate— slow down. Give yourself a little more time to get wherever you’re going so you don’t have to rush; Resist the temptation to blow your horn at everyone in traffic who gets in your way. Just slow down. You will feel more calm, centered, focused and in greater control.

• Acknowledge— Commit to saying hello to 5 strangers a day; nothing more, just say hello and smile at them for no reason at all.

• Appreciate— make it a point to thank those who serve you— people like police officers, postal workers, grocery clerks and checkers, the custodian in your building; all the people who so often go unsung; commit to finding a way to thank 5 people a day for their work and service.
• Allow— allow those around you to be who and what they are; stop trying to change them or wish they would behave differently so you can feel better. It’s your job to feel good, not theirs to make you feel good. You can’t change anyone but yourself, so just allow allow, allow, allow. You will be wonderfully surprised at the results.

• Assist— help someone in need of assistance. Find a way to go out of your way for a few people a day. Those opportunities are everywhere if you look for them. You will feel better about yourself and I promise they who need the help will feel like they count.

Commit to these 5 A’s for a few days and see how you feel. You will be glad you did, and you will have spread a wonderful energy into the atmosphere; the energy that represents the best of us, and we can all use a little or a lot of that.