When was the last time you did something nice for someone else? I’m talking something out of the ordinary for the sole benefit of another person? If you can’t even remember, that might be a problem. If it was a couple days ago, that’s good. If it was just yesterday, awesome. But ask yourself this; was it really for someone else? Or did it benefit you jusssst a little? Was it because you felt bad or guilty? Or was it because you thought you might “look bad” if you didn’t?
If you answered yes to any of those last questions, then your good deed doesn’t really count. It may have been a nice thing you did, and I’m sure it was, but it doesn’t mean that you had another person’s benefit in mind.
I think this is the problem with people today, the ugly habit of being selfish.
Of course, sometimes it’s good to be selfish. Because at the end of the day, you are responsible for your own happiness and sometimes the only way to get there is by being a little selfish, doing what you need to do. But I definitely think that people get greedy with their daily dosage, and I’m afraid some have even overdosed a bit.
Think about it; if everyone in the world was a little less selfish, people in general would get along better. This person would help that person out; this guy would lend a helping hand to that guy. Pretty soon everyone would find the comfort and pleasure of helping others, and then it would become natural and promising. Just think of a time when you could have really used someone’s help, but it never happened. Think of that expected disappointment you felt. If we all could learn to help each other out, that feeling would occur less.
Let’s to go beyond that, think of how heartwarming it would feel to have someone help you out when you’re least expecting it. During the times when you didn’t even know you could use a little help. Those moments are some of the best moments in life.
I was shopping at the mall the other day to buy some new gym shoes to work out in. I wasn’t really sure where to go so I went back and forth a little between two stores. After I had been in the second store for a while, I finally found a pair that did it for me. I had decided what to get and I was all ready to checkout so I started walking to the cashier. As I’m making my way there, this random lady called over to me. “Hey! Hey wait a minute, I got a coupon you can use! Somewhere here in my purse!” I thought, wait what? I have never met this lady before in my life and I probably will never see her ever again but she wants to help me save some money with one of her coupons?!
I was confused, very thankful, but very confused. I didn’t understand why someone who didn’t know me would want to help me out, in any way. After searching in her purse for a couple minutes, I felt bad that she was going through all that trouble just to give me a coupon. So I told her it was alright and not worry but that I greatly appreciated her. She seemed defeated and wanted to keep looking but she just couldn’t find her coupons! Probably because there was a lot of stuff in her purse, like any girls purse is usually filled with… Just a lot of stuff!
I thanked her again and started walking toward the cashier. As I was getting rung up, she came power-walking my way waving her hands in the air with a book of coupons in them. She practically yelled, “Wait! I found ‘em! Wait, wait!” She was so excited! I gave her a great big hug and thanked her many times because I still just couldn’t believe how sweet this woman was. It was like a breath of fresh air.
She ended up saving me ten dollars on my new kicks. Some of you might think this is a lot, and someone of you might think it’s no big deal. Me? I don’t really care how much the coupon was for, I am just thankful for it, and most importantly for that lady. There was not one reason in this world for her to give me one of her coupons that she could have easily and happily kept to use herself. It didn’t benefit her one bit to give me that coupon. But it sure as heck benefited me. And that’s the only reason she gave it to me. She did me a favor out of the goodness of her heart and did not have herself in mind at all. Now that, my friends, is a kind and selfless person.
I left the store that day with a huge smile on my face. I felt cheesy and stupid, and I wondered what the random people walking passed me thought but I couldn’t help it. That unexpected act of kindness brought me happiness, and made the rest of my day. I was stunned and baffled at how genuine and nice I was able to see someone act. I kept thinking to myself, why are there not more people like this in the world??
Nowadays, these good deeds or random acts of kindness are just that, random. So it surprises people when we see someone going out of their way to help someone else. To live in a peaceful and beautiful world, it needs to be the opposite! It shouldn’t be strange when someone helps out another person, it should be normal. It shouldn’t be random; it should be all the time, because it is great… and anything great should happen all the time. At least, if you want to keep and maintain that happiness we were talking about earlier!
Besides, doing good for others brings you good karma. I help you, he helps me. She helps him, I help her. What goes around comes around, “like a hula hoop.” And yes, I just quoted Lil Wayne.
So I’ll ask this question again, when is the last time you did something nice for someone? If the answer is a while ago, change that. If the answer was five minutes ago, cherish that. There is no such thing as “too many good deeds” and it’s not like it’s ever too late to do them. Just watch, the more you start to help others, the more help will find its way to you when you need it, or even when you don’t “need” it. And most importantly, you will feel like and become a better person. Better people, better world.