Do Good, Not Well

This week was pretty uneventful. I’m sitting here trying to think of a couple topics but honestly, nothing is coming to mind. I had a couple of ideas earlier but now I forget! This is frustrating me. Well, I just thought of something to talk about…
Sunday I went to the forum with my mom, her friend, and my friend. While looking through a store, I came across a rack with inspirational sayings, one of which really stuck with me and made me think about some things. The quote was, “Go into the world and do well, but more importantly, go into the world and do good.” For some reason, I had never actually thought about that. Everyone in the world looks at life as a kind of race, always trying to get ahead. Whether their goal is to make a lot of money or be famous or whatever, people often look past the real and important reasons we are here in this world.
Because social status is viewed as an important aspect in life, many citizens of the United States feel that unless they are rich and famous, they will not be happy. However, an important thing people need to realize is that happiness doesn’t only become noticeable when you buy a new pair of pumps from the hottest new designer. Happiness can be found in the most unexpected places and is usually discovered by helping someone else. From personal experience, I’ve found that even little things can help to brighten someone’s day which in return can help improve yours as well. I know that sometimes while driving if a person realizes they need to get in the other lane and no one else will let them in, I always volunteer my place in line and when they wave or show thanks some how it makes me feel like I made them happier.
Recently, we have been hearing a lot about the country of Haiti’s earthquake and headlines have included the famous and rich people who are going down there to help the causes. However, I personally feel that the famous people are purely doing this deed as an act for publicity. Another example would be Sunday night on Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Kelly Pickler was the guest of honor and next week is Ashanti, just in case you were wondering Mr. Glenn. But anyways, who has heard of Kelly Pickler recently? Or Ashanti for that matter? No one has! They’re only pursuing this philanthropic act as a form of publicity. Along with “helping” build the house, Kelly sang a couple of songs from her new c.d….coincidence? I think not. I truly believe their contributions to society are simply used for viewer response to their movies or music. If Jennifer Aniston goes out and helps Haiti, she might see it through the perspective that ten thousand more people will go watch her new movie. In conclusion, I think that more people need to be more philanthropic and actually care about others and help out because they want to, not because it will help their c.d. sales or box office ratings.