August
26, 2010
Every
day you do things unconsciously or as part of your routine that advance simple
community. Those activities maintain community. Simple community grows when we
consciously decided to do more.
The
thing with “conscious” activities is that they can feel like work because you
think to do them, make a decision, and then do them. So you are aware of the
effort.
I
would like to suggest the conscious efforts are the real game changers. When we
do good things intentionally our actions just plain mean more. They can also be
more focused on things that really need to be done. Knowing conscious acts might
be better, however, does nothing to make them feel any less like work. So here’s
something that might help.
Think
about the times someone has done something out of the ordinary and
intentionally to be nice to you without your having asked them to do it. Think
of what that action produced in your life and ask yourself if it was worth that
person’s effort to intentionally do it.
Knowing
how valuable it was to be on the receiving end of intentional kindness should
make it easier to muster up the motivation and energy to do it yourself.