Week 7: How to Make This World a Better Place

I blew it! I'm a day behind.  With the holiday, today seems like Monday for me, not Tuesday, so I apologize that my blog is late. In any case, I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day and remembered to honor the men and women who sacrificed their lives to keep the principles upon which our country was founded, and I hope you remembered loved ones who passed on as well.

Since one of the great defining aspects of our nation is to be "the land of opportunity," it fit well with something I learned long ago, and still try to practice as much as I can − never miss an opportunity to do something good. For me, that brought home two particular deeds this week.

I received a special pizza offer for online ordering and carryout. It was a great opportunity to purchase one for myself and one for a neighbor who goes out of her way to do unexpected things for me like break up tree roots that are choking the grass in my front yard, put my newspaper where I can easily retrieve it, and place a beautiful hanging basket on my lamppost.

Since sales were also widespread, Omaha Steaks was offering a free shipping and 50% off promotion. I know someone who can't afford extras like the decadent molten lava cakes she loves, so after some deliberation about whether I should spend the extra money, I recalled my mission regarding opportunity and decided to send them to her.

We are all given opportunities (and the power) to do something positive for someone else. Sometimes opportunities come at the same time as mine did, and sometimes they come days or weeks apart. My challenge to you is to seize an opportunity to do good this week. Follow that little nudge where you aren't quite sure if you should make the sacrifice, but do it. And if opportunity presents itself more than once, bless yourself and another person by taking any action you can to make this world a better place. 

Encouragement and How to Make This World a Better Place

We know that our attitude toward people can be self-fulfilling in that they often live up or down to our expectations. But if we truly want to make a difference in the lives of our fellowmen, we need to promote positives.

This week, the assignment to make this world a better place is to encourage someone, and I hope you do it more than once. In fact, I hope your journal of making this world a better place is beginning to have multiple entries in the same week.

If you've been reading my blog, you are already aware that one of my favorite Bible verses is Hebrews 10:24, "Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds." It really epitomizes what encouragement is all about.

Encouragement can be a simple pat on the back and saying, "Good job!" It can also be in the form of a compliment to encourage someone to do something or continue doing what they do: "Your artwork is outstanding." You are so smart!" "You should really sing in the choir." You can even pass along a compliment from another person to offer encouragement. (Research shows that hearing of a third party's compliment can sometimes mean more to someone than one that is direct.)

Encouragement might even come in the form of advice, but only advice that is wanted or absolutely warranted (such as preventing harm). Giving unsolicited advice can be unappreciated, unheeded, and may even cause damage to a relationship. So, if you do give advice, do it in a loving and encouraging way.

Whatever or however you choose, make this world a better place by focusing on encouragement this week, and try to do it in different ways as noted above.

My journal of making this world a better place last week included buying extra donuts and sharing them with a neighbor, delivering cards from a party to someone who couldn't attend, praising the authors of submissions to my next book, praising two service-related individuals to their supervisors, and participating in an "X-change" day in our townhome community where residents placed good, but unwanted, items on the curb for others to take.

Have a good week, and I know you can find many ways to encourage others!

The First Shall Be...

Matthew 20:16 states "So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (NIV) The same statement is made in Mark 10:31 and Luke 13:30. There are also myriad references to serving others, so this week, the assignment to make this world a better place is to put others before your own interests.

Some suggestions for you are:

• Let someone go ahead of you in line (this can be at the grocery store in the checkout lane, theater queue, etc.)
• When driving, leave the right lane open at stoplights so that someone turning right on red doesn't have to wait to turn because you are ahead of them in the lane waiting for the green light to go straight 
• If only one item remains, let someone else have it (this could be an item at the grocery store that someone else also wants, the last helping of a dish at a family meal, etc.)
• Let the person behind you have the best parking space
• Allow someone else to decide where to go to dinner or what activity to do, for example  

Now that you have a good idea of what to do to serve others and put them before yourself, do it more than once this week. You can even begin a daily journal like I have. Just buy a simple lined journal, diary, or even a spiral notebook, and section it as in the example below.

MAY
1 ________________________________________________________________________
2_________________________________________________________________________
3_________________________________________________________________________
etc.

The benefit of a journal is to make certain you are consciously doing something daily to make this world a better place. You can even look over the past 4 weeks and repeat some of those assignments.

My personal journal entries for last week included: buying extra soaps from Bath & Body Works to give to three women for Mother's Day, praised a store clerk to her supervisors for her outstanding customer service, and I offered to help pack boxes for someone who is moving.

As always, I would love to hear what you are doing!

Week 4 of Making This World a Better Place

The Bible is full of directives to care for widowed mothers especially because there was no such thing as insurance. Women didn't have jobs like today and they depended upon their husbands to provide and protect them. But it isn't only financial support that single mothers of any age need today.

Since Sunday, May 12 is Mother's Day, it makes sense this week to direct our efforts toward mothers. We all know single women who are mothers − some may be young with children still at home, and others may reside in nursing facilities with family far away.  Or, we may know a woman whom we just really respect and admire.

We know to make this world a better place, it might begin with doing something positive or special for one person at a time, and that is okay. We might never realize how much our single kindness may actually impact countless others. So the assignment this week is to choose a mother (in addition to or other than your own), and a) send a card; b) buy an extra mother's day gift for this person; c) take time to visit with your chosen person; or d) write a letter of appreciation to that someone and mail it.

If your focus is on a struggling young mother, could she use a little extra time to herself or pampering? Perhaps that means inviting the children to your home to bake cookies, plant flowers, etc. You could also offer some little gift of pampering like special shower gel or lotion.

For an elderly person, a visit would definitely be a plus, but any acknowledgment with a card, letter, or small gift would also be appreciated. Just a note: the statistics for elderly suicide, of those 85 and older, was 20.1%, the second highest among all age groups (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention). Isolation and loneliness account for a large part of the reason, so Mother's Day is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference for someone who may be at risk.


Now, for a few things in my journal to make this world a better place last week: I kept an eye on my neighbor's townhouse while she attended her grandfather's funeral out of state; I called to check on someone who had been hospitalized; and a friend needed a stamp and asked if I had one she could purchase. Of course, I just gave it to her.

And, to end this week's blog, a sincere Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms who are making this world a better place!