How Good is Good?

The Bible teaches that we should “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Otherwise known as “The Golden Rule”. What goes around comes around…. Eventually…. Always. However, it may not be on your time line.

Paradoxical Commandment #2: If You do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

Time and time again I have witnessed people trying to get what they can for themselves. Haven’t you noticed that people who act on their own ulterior motives are the same people who accuse others of doing the same thing?

Remember that the best reward for doing good things for other people is the satisfaction and personal meaning you will derive from it. If you simply “pretend” to be doing good things for people under false pretenses you may reap monetary values but your integrity will suffer.

You know the term “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”. When we say this, we are saying “I will only help you if I get what I want”.

Therefore, it will not be easy to take up the “Do Good Anyway” mantra, because bad habits and cynicism are embedded deep down in our psyche. Further, what ever we do often, we are inclined to do more and what ever we stop doing, as time passes, we will have less inclination for.

Doing Good appears to be contrary to the way the world operates. Trust has gone out the window. Common sense is non-existent. A baby cries and some one yells shut up!... I don’t think you will find this attitude from people in the blogosphere where I hang out.

The blogosphere is full of people Doing Good Anyway. Every page I turn shows a page full of giving. Liz Strauss at Successful Bloggers comes to my mind and in her “12 Detailed Checklists to Spit Shine and Promote your Blog” post, she demonstrates a perfect example of the “Do Good Anyway” mantra. Not only does she tell us Vovo at Business Traffic Ideas gave her the idea for the post, she tells us Patrick Schaber at The Lonely Marketer spotted the idea originated by Matt McGee over at Small Business SEM.

There are so many more. Check them out and you will find how giving they are.
Design Your Writing Life
The Golden Pencil
Make It Great with Phil Gerbyshak
Sylvia's Insight
Thoughts and Philosphies
Dwaud Miracle
The Lieurance Group
Roberta Ferguson

Just to name a few.

I know I will be immersed in the check list for a while. What a wealth of information for new bloggers or anyone who wants to spiff up their blog.

Write it down,
Carma

Anyway

Sylvia at Sylvia’s Insight asked the question “What kind of friend do you want to be?”

We cannot be personal friends to every person we meet and it takes courage to be a friend in this crazy world when nothing seems to make sense. However, YOU can make sense in this crazy world by finding personal meaning.

Today I picked up a little book titled Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal meaning in a crazy world by Kent M. Keith.

Paradoxical Commandment #1 People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered – Love them anyway

The uniqueness of this book is that it doesn’t focus on wealth, success or fame. Instead it focuses on the personal meaning we get when we perform good acts because it is the "right thing to do."


In his introduction, Author Kent M. Keith says, “The Paradoxical Commandments are not morbid or pessimistic. If you do what is right and good and true, you will often be appreciated for your contributions. But if you can find personal meaning without the world’s applause, you are free. You are free to do what makes sense to you, whether or not others appreciate it. You are free to be who you really are. You are free to be who you were meant to be.”

We all know people who are unreasonable, selfish and demanding and just plain hard to love. Does this mean they are not worthy of love? What if we loved them anyway?

Love comes in many forms; affection, friendship, fondness and passion to name a few. Also when experiencing extreme difficulty with other people who are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered, remember this simple saying, “There are three answers to every question: Yours, mine, and the right one.”

“Anyway” teaches a great lesson. The good that you do in life will become a source of personal meaning for YOU even when others forget. This does not mean that you look at life through “rose colored glasses” it just means that you can make the world a better place with out depending on applause.

Join the Anyway challenge, click here to download "The Anyway Challenge" Certificate.

Tomorrow I will post Paradoxical Commandment #2.



Write it down,

Carma

Free Blog Tipping!

Thank You Dwaud

Since my subscription to Dwaud Miracle, I have enjoyed and benefited from his expertise. His post on July 7, 2007 is no exception. When you go over to Dwaud's Blog you will see how to get your Blog Tipped!

Get your Blogging Tips from Douglas Karr at The Marketing Technology Blog

Write it down,
Carma

How Much Are You Worth?

Last week I participated in two quizzes from Mingle2.

I am 77% addicted to blogging and only 18% Geek.

Does that mean I am 82% Normal? Now, according to the Cadaver Calculator my dead body is worth $4,665.00. How much are you worth....DEAD?


$4665.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth.

The weekend is doing what it is supposed to do...End. I hope everyone had a wonderful one and come Monday morning we all will be working with sharper pencils. I plan to sharpen mine by reading and savoring the 164 Essential Tools for Online Success from Char of Essential Key Strokes. Thanks Char for re-posting these valuable Tools for Online Success.

Write it down,
Carma

One Hit Wonders

In the music industry, a one-hit wonder is an artist generally known for only one single hit. More commonly, however, one-hit wonders are serious-minded musicians who struggled to continue their success after their popularity waned. Many music industry one-hit-wonders are novelty songs recorded for humor or to cash in on a fad and to an extent are deliberately short-lived. Examples include Rick Dees’s "Disco Duck," related to the disco craze of the 1970s; and C.W. McCall's "Convoy," related to the CB radio craze of the 1970s, and Chubby Checker lost 50 pounds with his one-hit wonder “The Twist”.

The literary world is not without its one-hit wonders either. Though the term is sometimes used in a derogatory manner, both genres experience long lasting popularity for the most part such as “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, who won the Pulitzer prize in 1961. What about “Gone With the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell who also won a Pulitzer Prize in 1937. Boris Pasternak wrote “Doctor Zhivago” and after his manuscript was smuggled out of Russia, he was rewarded by being exiled to the country and banned from writing. This did not prevent him from being awarded the Nobel Prize in 1958.

These authors left their mark on the world just as Beethoven and Mozart did. Is it possible that we will ever see the likes of them again?

Why do you write? Is it for fame, fortune, humanity, expose or for love?

I write because I must and it is the best way for me to escape into a world that I can control. Yes, even in non-fiction writing I can control what I write about.

Everyone has a story inside them. What’s yours?

This morning while watching the news, I saw Lynne Cheney, wife of VP Richard Cheney marketing her newest children’s book, “50 States”, which is about the history of each of the 50 United States. Another book, “Sole Survivor” by Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of a Navy Special Operations Forces team was promoting his book. “Sole Survivor” is about four Navy Seals fighting off dozens of Taliban fighters in a two and one-half hour deadly fire fight.

New authors with new books excite me because I know I can do it too. Although Lynne Cheney is not a new author, I garner motivation from her to reach out and teach others. Motivation and Inspiration can be found when least expected.

Do you have a one-hit wonder hiding in you?

Take this quiz about authors who only published one book and you may be able to answer the question.

Write it down,

Carma

B-I-N-G-O Was His Name O

I must admit Cow Patty Bingo is not anything I had thought about lately. However it brings up memories of things... like going submarine hunting in Valley View Texas when I was a kid. Oh, hunting for raccoons was another favorite past time, which seemed to be played exclusively at night...right along with submarine hunts.

Go check out how Cow Patty Bingo works over at Bloggrrl, and while you're there find out why your dog is different than you.

Write it down,

Carma

Are You Addicted to Blogging?

I am 77% addicted to blogging. I am a little surprised about that. But I feel in good company with these two guys. Phil Gerbyshak at Make It Great is 81% and Dawud Miracle is 71%. Being a novice blogger I feel pretty good about this type of addiction and I like Phil's take on it as a "commitment".

Write it down,
Carma


77%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?