Is the landscape of life marked with good deeds? Issaquah and Sammamish may not be located in Oz or have a Yellow Brick Road, but if there were such a road, it undoubtedly would be marked with good deeds.
Have you recently observed an individual opening a door for another person? Hopefully this was a random act of kindness not specific to gender, age or status. With the influx of negativity bombarding our lives daily, it is truly rewarding to witness people helping each other.
Additionally, if a line starts to form while you are holding the door open, you should continue your purposeful deed until everyone has had the opportunity to go through the doorway. You likely will receive many gracious acknowledgments for your effort and you can always bank some of the count for the future.
Quite noticeable are those individuals who offer to return your shopping cart to the store once the contents have been loaded into your car. Other times it is one of your neighbors who makes it a habit of moving your garbage and recycle containers off the street and back alongside your house once it has been collected. There are numerous resources listing good deeds and favors that you can do for others. Nevertheless, the main notion is to do something for someone else and do it today. You could practice giving up your seat on the bus or holding the elevator door for someone entering or exiting, maybe even asking which floor they want. Or slip a note through your neighbor’s door telling them that a package has been delivered to them.
These acts should transcend basic chivalry, be genuine and spontaneous. At the end of the day, you can review the list of good deeds that you accomplished. Some people make doing good deeds part of their mantra and endeavor to do a multitude each day. But these acts of kindness are not so much for self-satisfaction, getting equal or receiving appreciations. More significantly, they relate to the old saying: “What goes around comes around” and that act of thoughtfulness may return and become a reality for you as you eventually become the recipient of someone else’s good deed. This is much different than the lyrics “No Good Deeds” from the Broadway Musical “Wicked that does take place in Oz.”
Try doing at least one good deed a day or, if possible, each hour and hopefully these small acts of kindness become contagious. These good deeds do in a way become markers for our journey through life, even if there is not a long Yellow Brick Road. And don’t limit them just to strangers. Make a conscious effort to do daily good deeds — and don’t forget to do a good deed for yourself.
Sammamish resident Larry Crandall is a retired educator. who currently serves on the city’s Planning Commission.
