I love this line from the old Steve Miller song.  July is here, and time continues her march at an incredible pace whether we are having fun or not.  July is the reminder, we are more than halfway through the year!  

It seems like yesterday we celebrated the New Year, Valentines, March Madness and April Fool’s Day. Didn’t we just finish crafting our annual goals for 2018! That 2018 timeline is getting much shorter.  I have a New Years’ postcard on my bulletin board saying “2018 is the Year of Kindness”, which became a resolution for the year, but I haven’t given it any thought.

So last week when I heard about a new effort by Activate Good called Sign for Good, it was a good reminder. Activate Good is a nonprofit agency started by Amber Smith in 2005.  She and a friend, Heather Leah embarked on a cross-country journey after graduation with a plan to conduct random acts of kindness, volunteering in 20 states.  Their organization was called ME3 which stood for motivate, evaluate, empower and engage.  Amber returned to the Triangle and created Activate Good with the mission to encourage and activate volunteers to support charitable causes in their community.  Surprisingly only 1 out of 4 adults volunteer locally. In my world, it seems incomprehensible, but that is the reality.

The campaign revolves around a yard or a window decal that states:

Do Good

Be Kind

Change the World

2018 has been a year of national disharmony and division.  Yet, this simple message confirms the belief that we are all in this world together and we can make a difference by expressing simple acts of kindness, living a life of service, and doing something for someone. We can change the world, one person, one community, one state at a time. We are not helpless because we can always help someone else. It is not hard.  Treat others as you want to be treated. Do for others what you want them to do for you.

I posted the sign in my yard and each day it reminds me I can change the world in some small way. Activate Good in on a mission to get these signs distributed nationwide.  Visit their website, www.signsforgood.com to learn more about it.

As we slip into the murky future of the second half of 2018, Signs for Good reminds us to become intentional and to take note of each act of kindness you express daily. Jot them down on your phone and become conscious of how often you do good or show kindness, those acts given without expectation of anything in return.  

If you get to the end of the day and your slate is clear, do something before you go to bed. Make a phone call, write a letter or send an email to a friend or loved one who needs support, or make a meal for someone who would appreciate it.

When you wake up feeling low, do something for another person, volunteer at a nonprofit, a school, your church, or in your neighborhood.  Help an elderly neighbor, spend some time with someone who needs a friend, smile at someone who looks like they could use a smile, compliment someone. Do something every day. It will change your world.

The world needs more kindness, it needs more goodness, it needs more love.  Take responsibility to do your part to change the world one person at a time. On December 31, 2018, look back on your year as a year of kindness and one in which you really did make a difference. Never forget, “No act of kindness, no matter how small is ever wasted” -Aesop.

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