“Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” - Desmond Tutu

My Little Bit of Good

by Brent Loafman

Like so many, I sometimes go to You Tube, click on some video on the 'suggested' list and before long I'm watching every video that is even remotely related to the original one. After You Tube, I'm often compelled to then look up studies, articles, essays, etc. that are about the subject of my recent video binge. It's an old habit and while it's sometimes enlightening, fun or educational, mostly it just adds to the store of useless trivia that stays in my head but makes no real difference in my life. Sometimes it seems to wriggle around in my subconscious until it finds it's place in my 'world view'. It clicks into place in my Big Picture of the Universe and connects with all of my experiences and leaves me with that great feeling of having found a small glimmer of knowledge about the Universe of my understanding.

On rare occasions, it can even lead to a positive action on my part. It's ...thrilling. A couple of years ago, on an early morning when I didn't have to work at all that day, I began looking at videos about random acts of kindness. Over the following few days, I had watched dozens of videos, read countless stories and formed a glowing admiration for those that feed the homeless, found organizations that raise money just to fuel completely random acts of kindness for the holidays, without bias. Some even allow teams of children to choose the people that are the targets of their random act of kindness.

Each morning, I rise early and head to a local MacDonald's for a cup of coffee and a diet soda which I take to my car, and enjoy the sunrise and the parade of diverse people that follow. It's a ritual that I adhere to as much as possible because it keeps me in the moment and starts my day in gratitude for the parade of life in front of me, and the fact that I'm allowed the start of another day in my own life. On a morning shortly after my kindness research, I realized that while I do try to be as kind as possible, it wasn't something that I actually sought out opportunities to express. I thought that I needed to incorporate a way to actively seek out ways to be kind, I needed a ritual to remind me. That was on a Tuesday.

Today, one of my rituals is to honor Kindness Tuesday. It's my way of actively looking for ways to be kind. Sometimes it's paying for the food of the person behind me in line, other times it's giving a bit more to whatever charity donation box is in front of me. On occasion I drive around a bit and give money to someone that looks like they need it. Always I explain that it's just my way of performing a random act of kindness, no judgments, no bias just a random action on my part and thanking them for the opportunity to help me be kind. It's my 'little bit of good'.

Looking for opportunities to do your little bit of good? At Gardenspot we can provide a diverse array of just such opportunities through volunteer work, donations, self growth and helping you turn your family, friends and community into a village of kindness that just does it's little bit of good.