We in the medical field have often heard the phrase, “Do no harm.” Taking this a little further, I’d like to offer, “If you can’t do something good for someone, it is better to do nothing for them.” Everyone probably does not share my affection for this week, but Easter week is definitely a time where I look to do good for others. I attempt to do good things for others everytime I can, but this week really defines doing good to me. Doing good can be something that costs very little and all it takes is a little thought, creativity and time. The investment that you put into others by doing good can give a satisfactory yield that will last and pay itself forward to others.
Once you determine that you want to do good, the next step is to determine how you will do good. Fortunately, most of us still have a conscience and do not have to ponder long on what is doing good and what is doing bad or not so good. We can use ourselves and our personal situation to determine how to do good. What do we not like to do, what do we not like to deal with, and what seems a pain to us? If you are like most, you will share a lot of those dislikes with other people you know. Maybe you hate taking out the trash. Chances are, someone in your office may feel the same way about the task. Look around and find that trash can that is overflowing and surprise the person and empty their trash for them. It costs nothing, takes little time and results in you removing a disliked task from someone by doing this good deed. Look for the opportunities to lighten the load on someone else. You may remove that straw that is about to break their back.
When and where do we do good? I’d venture to say everywhere. Life has a good way of stressing us all and people in general need and appreciate good things being done for them. Let that person into traffic from the on ramp although traffic is thick and you might be running late. Take the unleashed dog you find and hook him up to a leash and walk your neighborhood to see who it might belong to. Notice that person in the checkout line who might have to put some things back because they don’t have enough money and offer to pay for the put back items. The opportunities are all around us if we look. Again, the effort it takes is not much, but the impact it will have is extremely powerful.
Finally, to whom do we do good? EVERYONE! Especially those who look, dress, and act differently than we do. If we serve and do good only for those of whom we personally like and approve, are we not just showing “self-love”? Look for people to do good things for and you will see it change the world around you and change your own life for the better. I’ll paraphrase one of my favorite stories. A small boy is on the beach where thousands of starfish have washed up. The little boy is picking them up, one by one, and is throwing them back into the water. A man sees the little boy’s futile attempt at saving the enormous amount of beached starfish and walks up to talk to the boy. "Son, what are you doing?" The little boy answered, "I'm throwing starfish back into the sea because if I don't they're going to die."
"But there are thousands of starfish. In the larger scheme of things you're not going to make much of a difference to all these starfish."
The little boy looked up at him, stooped down again to pick up another starfish and, gently but quickly, flung it back into the ocean. "It's going to make a big difference to that one" he replied.
We might not be able change the whole world with doing good to those we meet each day, but we can possibly change that person’s whole world. Do good – it isn’t hard to do.