The #1 reason I can't put my iPod down

Video credit: Youtube & Airborne Toxic Event

What does the "Good" in Good Deeds mean to you?

The other day I was in a conversation with a group of people when someone brought up the topic of good deeds. She listed several reasons why they don't give to charities or to those less fortunate during the holidays or any other time of the year. Her laundry list of "why not's" was valid because it's her opinion but it made me question why people do them at all.

Is it because they want to improve the world, because they feel they should be nice or because their friends, family or co-workers asked them to?

Let me just take a moment to interject my personal beliefs here and say that I find the "why not's" absurd. If you are so blessed that you never go to bed hungry, have clothes to wear and have a roof over your head, then I see no feasible reason why you wouldn't help your neighbor. Let me also take a moment to say that I know not everyone can give to everything, I would never ask or expect that, but good deeds can range from opening the door for someone at the post office to volunteering at a local senior citizens center to as easy as donating money.

As I explained my point of view to the woman who told me that "too many people know how to work the system and that they often get more than they need" she told me the reason I do good deeds is to make myself feel good.

Huh.

I had never thought about this before but a quote that hung on one of my professor's office doors at Colorado State University that said, "It's better to have a bleeding heart than none at all" came to my mind. My professor posted the quote to let her way-left, liberal thinking be known, but I find it appropriate here too.

When I do what I consider to be good deeds, I do them because yes, it feels good to help those who are less fortunate but more importantly, I do them because I can. I remember my childhood and how lucky I was to have two parents, in the same home, who loved me and let me know they loved me. I think about how many children don't have what I had and if getting a Bratz doll for Christmas makes them smile, then it's the least I can do. Also, I would hope that if the roles were reversed, someone would be there to do the same that I've done.

In some respect, yes, we all do good deeds because they make us feel good but if that's the only reason then, that's sad.