I am a student of life. I’m amazed at the behavior of people and wonder about how they can be so lazy when it comes to thinking of others above themselves. I witness dozens of interactions every week that could go so much better if people simply took a moment to see how they can make the world better with a simple action. I do my best to think about other people and actively look to find a way I can do something for them making the world a tiny bit better. You don’t have to be Oprah and give everyone a free car to do something life changing for a stranger.
The other day I took Annabel out for a long walk. I usually take about 5 poop bags with me. Trust me this puppy is healthy and like her human Dad completely full of shit. Ha. Figured I’d get a ahead of that one. No softballs here buddy. I don’t usually need that many, but I would rather have extra than not enough. Old lessons from living on the farm. Always take an extra one or two because the one time you need them, you’re going to be real glad you did. I usually bag up the Annie treasures and then leave them on a corner or place I know I’m coming back to. No need to carry a poop bag around. On the way home after doing our laps thru the neighborhood I can grab all the bags and put them into the trash can.
The trash can is a dog poop station if you will. A pole with a trash can and the top of it has poop bags for people that don’t bring one with them. I always take them with me from my home and refill at the drop off, but hey I’m smart. So this particular day I made my deposit and noticed there were no more bags for other people. Not my problem right?? I turned and started rolling away, but that voice in my head said “You can do better Bucky.” The voice was right and I could do better. I had two unused bags in my pocket. I turned around and put those two bags in the empty box so that the next two people would have a bag. I was able to help two random people, but more importantly I was able to help keep my environment clean of dog poop.
It took almost no effort from me, no one would know what I did (until I share it here), and it helped someone else be a responsible person and pick up after their dog. I share because it really is that easy to be a good person. I hope that you go out and actively LOOK for places to make a positive difference in your neighborhood. People see you doing good things and it is contagious. I need no praise or someone to say good job, but what does make me feel proud is when others follow my lead. That means I’m doing my job as a human. This reminds me of a time I was dropping the nephews off at the airport.
We were checking in at the main area when some how the box of luggage tags got knocked over and spilled everywhere. I didn’t do it so it wasn’t my problem. I mean they have people that work there so I could just ignore it and go on with my life. Who cares if the line is super long and the guy behind the counter is doing all he can to move people thru faster. Now he has to pick up all these luggage tags while I watch. We both know that isn’t what happened. Actually my nephew set his bag down and started to pick them all up. Organizing them to go back into the box like they were supposed to and I could not have been prouder of that kid. Without prompting he simply did what was right and kind. Remember someone is always watching what actions you take. I hope you set a good example.
I have another person I used to know back in my snowboarding days that told me a story about how he found a wallet while out walking with his daughter. He bragged to me that it had a couple hundred dollars in it which he kept and then threw the wallet into a trash can. He justified his actions by saying the guy gave him a dirty look while he parked his car. I have no idea why this individual thought I would be impressed by his crap story. It makes me sad because this young lady is learning wrong and her Dad is a D-Bag thief. He had such an opportunity to show his daughter how to be the bigger person (if you believe dirty look story, which I do not), how to do the right thing, and let her experience the feeling a person gets when they do the right thing. If you don’t feel shame when keeping the wallet that makes me even sadder.
So don’t sit back and wait for this perfect moment to do something kind. Look for those moments. Seek them out, experience the feeling you get when doing something kind, and become addicted to that feeling. Trust me you are not that busy, you are not that important, and you are robbing yourself every day you put off doing the random acts of kindness. Like just about everything it isn’t only about you. By being lazy you are most likely robbing someone that looks up to you the lesson of being kind simply because it makes you a better person, a person of integrity, and a person of good character. Don’t rob kids of that lesson.
Do kind things. It really is that simple.
FknBucky
FknBucky 