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One good deed...
20/07/2007 09:20 - (SA)
Colleen Figg
A while back we were at a local dam having a braai when my husband happened to look into the fork of the tree we were under. There was a tiny little bottle with a piece of paper inside, along with a pencil and a small eraser.
The idea was for people to write that they'd found the bottle, include a quote or other inspirational thought, then seal it up and leave it where it was found.
We were all tremendously excited by this little find, because it represented the essential need of humanity to reach out to one another and communicate. It was also interesting to speculate where it had been on its travels and what the circumstances were of all those who had written a message in it thus far.
We wrote that we'd been there, that we were very pleased to have found the bottle and we left R20 in it in case the next person needed a loaf of bread or a bottle of beer when he found it.
I"d like to encourage everyone to start the "Message in A Bottle" campaign in their own area, for you never know what a difference words of encouragement or the odd R5 can make to someone else. The good thing about this is that we never know who finds the bottle or what use they will make of its contents.
I've always tried to practice the art of the Good Deed for The Day, old fashioned as that may seem in this frenetic world we inhabit. Cynics may say that a good deed given to one who abuses it is a good deed wasted; for instance if you give a beggar money and he hoofs it to the nearest bottle store, they will maintain that you have been taken advantage of.
Kindness in the world
I feel that we should not be looking to judge the outcome of the giving but rather hoping that the recipient will at one time or another stop to realise that there is kindness in the world and perhaps be inclined to pass it on in his own small way to someone else.
This is not easy to do for we always want to receive, in our giving, some feeling of being appreciated, or some acknowledgement that we have been noble or even an assurance that we are not being used or manipulated.
In actual fact, the reaction of the person being helped should have no bearing at all on the person doing the helping; a lesson that was again brought home to me this morning.
We were travelling behind a bakkie filled with boxes of tomatoes and as the driver swung around the corner, a couple of the boxes tipped over and a load of tomatoes landed in the road.
We immediately tried to attract the driver's attention in the only way we could; by catching up with him, trying to get the driver's side of our car in the sight of his rear view mirror, and hooting. But because hooting is generally used in an aggressive way in this country he reacted negatively, flipping us the time honoured bird and speeding off.
I immediately thought "well if that's the way he wants to be, let him lose his whole load" but then I realised that I was wanting acknowledgement of the help we were trying to offer instead of just persisting until he got the idea.
In the end he did get the idea, pulled over and showed us a "thanks and sorry" signal as we drove past and we gave him a thumbs up and a smile.
I'm going to spend the coming week trying even harder to be kind and expecting nothing for it - will you join me?
Send your comments to Colleen.
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