Doing a good thing. Why do it in the first place?

I had the privelage of meeting and speaking with a group of young, high school and college guys a few days ago. What a great time it was for me. Listening to people talk about their future and how they will set about changing the world for the better. Some are going to envent something, some are going to improve something, some are going to find a new way to use something, some are going to use old ways to use something new. All of them were set on accomplishing something for the greater good. Most of them were doing it for a similar reason: Making the world a better place for all of us. Of course, a couple simply wanted to make some money or become a super star and get their faces spread across the papers, Tv and the internet but they were in the minority.

I was reminded of the wisdom that has come down through the ages: Doing good should be done for it's own sake. Doing good should be done anonomously if possible without seeking notoriety for it. That's the plan but it's not always easy to do, staying out of the public eye that is. Mother Teresa did a lot of good but wound up recieving a huge reward for it, which she turned over to charity. Ghandi turned down everything to accomplish monumental good. The stories go on and on. The reasons for doing good are as varied as the people who have done it. But what about the rest of us? The ones who will never accomolish some great deed? What is there to inspire us to do good? I've been told that doing good is the beginning and the end combined. Doing good should be done because it's the right thing to do, not because someone else is going to notice. Doing good is fulfilling our own destiny.

Sometimes we do good and absolutely no one else will ever know. Sometimes we do a simple good deed and we get accolades and huge rewards. Does the good change because of the acknowledgement it recieves? The simple answer is, NO!

This group of young guys talked about their reasons for accomplishing good and except for the two who aspired to do things just to get rich agreed to the basic principle of doing good for it's own sake. Even if they were to be humiliated and persecuted for what they believed to be a good thing: Do it anyway! Made me feel kind of good. The world is passing into good hands. At least in this group it is. Just thought I'd pass that on. .......................Joe.........Have a "good" day, eh?