“The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway”

— Kent M. Keith, one of the Paradoxical Commandments

I’ve heard it said that the great ones forget more than most people actually do. Perhaps it applies to kindness and giving time as well.

I’ve noticed that since I started this challenge, nearly 500 days ago, that I tend to forget a lot of what I used to write about because those “gifts of time” have become such a part of my daily routine. It’s easy to forget them, but they are still gifts of time. Tonight, for example, I almost forgot that I had changed the reader board at my daughter’s school this morning. I had just done it, and quite happily.

That’s one of the reasons I’d like to see everyone try a ‘giving time’ project or a kindness project. Those intentionally generous gifts of time become a part of us and it changes our fundamental fabric. Instead of wishing we were more generous, kind, caring, open, and thoughtful, we just are.

Why not give it a try? Try giving your time intentionally every single day for the next week, maybe a month. Everyday during that time do something to help someone else.

You don’t have to give away all your time, but try to do something that is a little out of the normal routine, that helps somebody else. Some ideas are,

• Do an extra chore around the house to help take the burden off your spouse.
• Help someone whose struggling with their grocery sacks at the supermarket and make a connection.
• Pick up some trash in the neighborhood and give your neighbors a little cleaner place to live.

You might find that by the end of the week or month, you’ve picked up some habits that help make you the kind of person you want to be.

If you need more ideas, look through this blog. I’ve recorded everything I’ve done for my daily act of ‘giving time.’ If you still can’t find anything, head on over to the Random Acts of Kindness website. There’s bound to be something there that works for you.

Who knows, maybe you’ll start to pick up habit of giving your time and being more kind. Maybe you’ll do so much that you’ll start to forget all the ways you are making a difference in the world.

In this case, forgetting is definitely a good thing.

Today’s gift of time … changed the school’s reader board.