Gave a bit extra to the captain of our jet boat tour this afternoon.
As we exited our jet boat tour of the Willamette river, I noticed that no one in front of me gave a gratuity to the captain, who was also our tour guide. As I passed, I broke from the crowd and gave him a nice tip which elicited the the comment, “Wow! That’s different.” My guess is that the gift was appreciated.
Later, after taking an evening run along the same river, my path took me across Pioneer Courthouse Square. As I passed through the square, I saw many people sitting and standing around the outside of the square but few people in the middle. People did not want to stand in the middle of a wide open space, we often migrate to the sides.
The fear of standing out is powerful. We are socially programmed to go along with the crowd and try to blend in.
However, that fear of standing out, that fear of looking different is exactly what we need to overcome if our peers do not making giving a priority. The problems of society are not usually solved by following the crowd.
Sometimes making a difference means acting differently.
Give Our Time 
You make an interesting observation—it is much easier to fade into the crowd as it requires no effort. Effort means work which means potential stress which means a change to one’s comfortable zone. However, it is the potential good that may result in your effort that makes it worthwhile to do. Change one’s attitude from “oh god I have to do something” to an attitude of “hey if I did this, then this possible positive result could happen.” Imagine that.
Well summarized. And I find that the more I avoid the thought “I *have* to do this” and embrace the “I *can and will* do this”, the easier it becomes to do it. Thanks for the thoughts!