so i was thinking today.. what if a peaceful attitude is a side effect of finding a certain peace of mind? if so, we can find a way to cultivate a peaceful attitude without focusing directly on our attitude or how big or small of an impact we are actually making. so in order to cultivate a peaceful attitude, we simply need to focus on finding a peace of mind; and since it is our own peace of mind we're talking about, we won't worry about how big of an impact it will have. so if i focus on cultivating a compassionate attitude, it will lead to a peace of mind. even if people don't react instantly to my "compassion", i can take comfort in the fact that even though it hasn't benefitted me directly, it might benefit someone else that they interact with in their day. so, taking joy in the concept of world peace, i take happiness knowing that someone else will be happy. so the more i focus on a compassionate attitude, the more people will enjoy being around me. the more people enjoy being around me (whether through influence or whatever else) the more likely THEY are to have a compassionate attitude, and the more of a compassionate attitude they have the happier i will be (even if it doesn't benefit me directly) and the happier i am the easier it is for me to cultivate a peaceful, compassionate attitude. i guess this is buddhism refers to as 'compassion: the wish fulfilling jewel.' that's a big 10-4, over and out.