Do a Good Turn - Day 20 (Really, this time.)

Sorry about the incomplete last post. We were having a storm that cut our internet service and rather than type the whole post over, I opted to post what had been saved before the connection was lost.

Wrap up of Day 19 -

COST - Nada

EFFORT - Not much. I'm used to cleaning up after six or more poeple, so cleaning up after three is no big.

TIME - 20 minutes tops

WOULD I DO IT AGAIN? - Yes, but I make no guarantees about not pointing out my astounding kindness. ; )

DAY 20

EVENT - Follow through

So, I'm kind of cheating today.

I have a confession to make. Remember the gift card I bought for that widower in Las Vegas with a brand new baby? Well, I found it in my coat pocket a couple of days ago. (The gift card, not the baby.) The day I bought the card I went to put it in an envelope and send it off. Turned out it was an odd size because of it's packaging and wouldn't fit in the envelope I had, so I put it in my pocket until I could get a different envelope. I fully intended to deal with it later that day, but you know how that turned out. At any rate, my good turn for today was to actually get that card into the mail.

I am sure most of us have intended to render some kindness and then at some point let something or other get us off track. Then by the time we think of it again, we feel awkward because we didn't do it sooner, but instead of acting right then, we stew on it a little longer. By that time it's just too embarassing to admit that we have been thinking about it for so long without doing anything about it. Blah, blah, blah...we decide to just forget it and resolve to do better next time.

I learned a great lesson about this when I got a thank you card for a porch swing I had given a friend two years after I had given it to her. I loved that note even more than if she had sent it right away, because by then she had made lots of good memories on that swing. I knew she really did appreciate the gift. No just following the rules of good etiquette there.

So, better late than never, right? This is why I decided that simply following through rated it's own status as a good turn.

COST - $.44 for the stamp, but I think I counted that on the day I bought the gift card.

EFFORT - Next to none

TIME - None extra. I dropped it off when I was picking up my mail.

WOULD I DO IT AGAIN? - Follow through as needed? I sure hope so.

Funny side note - I teach a group of eleventh graders a class that meets before school daily. Today I told them about what I'm doing this month and asked them to be thinking of ideas for me. One young lady immediately raised her hand. She happens to be quite a thoughtful girl, so I was anticipating some awesdome idea from her. When I called on her, she sweetly said, "You should buy your class doughnuts."

Be watching for that one later this month.