Being unapologetically good

One thing I have decided to work on is being unapologetically good. I often find myself making excuses for the nice things I do. I'm not talking about holding a door open for someone, but when I volunteer, give blood, recycle (I do a lot of green things), or do other responsible actions. I guess I have felt that I needed to brush off the significance of these acts because there are so many people in the world who don't do them and in an effort to make my contributions appear to be less outstanding I will write it off by saying something like, "oh well I had the extra time," or "well I do it with my friends."

I realized this mechanism recently after telling someone that I spent my Saturday morning volunteering at a food bank. I wasn't boasting. It was a response to someone asking me what I had been up to that day. The friend stated that he felt sheepish (in the face of my good deeds) and I dismissed his comment and moved on. As if I am not comfortable talking about lending a helping hand.

I realized this mechanism recently after telling someone that I spent my Saturday morninesponse to someone asking me what I had been up to that day. The friend stated that he felt sheepish (in the face of my good deeds) and I dismissed his comment and moved on. As if I am not comfortable talking about lending a helping hand.

I don't always use these defenses, but I definitely need to use them less. I actually don't need to say anything to account for my actions. I certainly don't need to diminish them as being unimportant because that lessens the significance of good deeds to those I am talking to. If I don't make these excuses and explanations maybe others will start doing more. A better response to the above comment on volunteering at the food bank would have been to suggest that he do some volunteer work. I will work on this and using my deeds to encourage others.