31 Days of Giving

I wrote about this before. It was here: http://randomrants08.blogspot.com/2012/12/more-wtf.html  If that bothered you or offended you or made you feel the need to comment, stop reading this now. If you are easily offended, then stop reading now. If you think this is about you, or everything I write is about you, then stop reading this. Now..........

"I just finished 31 Days of Giving. Here is what I said about it before:
I started a page on Facebook called the 31 days of giving. Let me explain: during November, or Yesvember, as we call it around here with friends of ours, these morons on Facebook post something that they are thankful for every day of the month. Day 1: I am thankful for our freedom. Great. They don't actually thank the servicemembers who keep us free (thanks Joe and your colleagues), they just thank freedom, as if freedom cares. By day 20, I see crap like this: Day 20: I am thankful for coffee. Seriously? You are thankful for a fucking cup of coffee? Really? What the hell has coffee done for you to make your life a bit better? Nothing. Is it the caffeine that you are thankful for? Is it the flavor? Is it your mocha syrup? Thank fucking Starbucks, but don't tell me you are thankful for coffee. Thats garbage."

So, basically, it was my response to people who post about being thankful without actually backing it up and doing something about it. Lip service is easy. Putting yourself out there and doing something is a bit harder. Telling people you have done it is even harder.  What did I learn from this?

1. Karma does exist. Twice during the 31 days, I was in the need of some help and it arrived. For example, we were driving from Anaheim to San Diego. My daughter got sick in the car. While I went in to a bathroom to clean her up, a woman came up to my wife and handed her a roll of paper towels to help us clean up. Would that have happened even if I didn't do the 31 days? Maybe. But I like to think it came about because I was out trying to do good in the world.

2. People are surprised when you do something nice for them. I can't count the times that people looked at my like I was crazy for helping them out or made a nice comment to me. It was nice.

3. It simply feels good and makes your day a better day. There is something refreshing about doing something good for someone else. It makes you feel good. It changes your outlook on your day, your week. Its a good thing.

4. Talk is easier than work. I am trying to be a bit politically correct about this. Its easy for folks to go on Facebook or Twitter or whatever and write about being thankful or grateful. But when the chips are on the table, people don't want to go the extra mile. I saw it time and again when people had an opportunity to help or go about their day, 99% of them chose to go about their day. It is easier. I admit it.

5. Friends may "like" something but that is a whole different thing than helping. We have made it so easy to "like" things that people sometimes just don't step up and do things. I had 35 people like my page on Facebook before I shut it down. I had about 3 people regularly posting about good deeds that they did. Why? Some people don't want to post about the good things they do. But some people just find it easy to click like and ignore something. And that is their choice.

6. I am not nearly as persuasive as I thought I was. Almost 10 years of practicing law, years of speech and debate and life made me think I could persuade people easily. I can't. That was crystal clear.

So, three positives and three negatives. What is my overall take on this?

I am glad I did it. It was good for me. I will continue to do good things for people, and most likely, try to do something good every day. I will not talk about it, post about it or write about it. I will do it, be happy I did it, and move on with life. This is the end of the 31 Days of Giving, both the project and anything else associated with it. Its not even bittersweet, like most things when they end. This is simply done and I will move on with life.