The Magic Scepter

I feel grateful being handed the magic scepter from the heavens on this fine day and hope that as my commands become the law of the land that there will be some benefit to our great nation that seems to have become polarized, dispassionate and often times unfriendly.
My edict shall be very simple, that every man, woman and child, starting on New Year'’s Day, begin doing one good deed. Every week we will add one more good deed so that by the end of the year we are doing 52 good deeds per week.
Now at first glance this may seem impossible and overwhelming but I am not talking about anything dramatic or extraordinary, I a’m talking about starting with very simple things.
Here are some ideas:
Say please, thank you and excuse me just one more time a day. Give your child, husband or wife an extra hug. Open a door for an older person. Signal when turning on the freeway. Don'’t cut in on the roads and cause tension to other drivers. Don'’t throw that piece of litter outside your car. Pick up a piece of litter. Say hello to a neighbor. Offer words of encouragement to someone in trouble. Report any suspected criminal activity. Don'’t paint graffiti. Don'’t vandalize. Smile rather than frown. Ask how you can help someone achieve a task or goal. Give a little more to charity. Volunteer your time to a school, hospital, senior center or sports activity league. Eliminate a swear word. Don'’t get angry, just let the emotion pass. Don'’t hate. Don'’t fight with the ones you love. Try harder at work or school. Try being more tolerant. Think positive, do away with negativity.
I think you get the general idea and I'’m sure you can think of hundreds of other positive acts. This is after all is just common sense thinking. It'’s adhering to the principles espoused by every religion. It is the essence of who we truly are at the core of our soul but unfortunately we'’ve lost our inner compass and many of us act irrationally, selfishly and sometimes violently.
Now, how do we practically implement this type of national self improvement plan? Television and radio networks as part of their license approval would have to commit sizable blocks of commercial time to promote this concept.
Newspapers would publish lists of self improvement ideas and print stories about the positive results attained when people become proactive about their behavior. Before a movie starts at the theatre a positive promo could be aired.
Employers could have postings at work and contests between employees to accomplish positivity. You can think of a multitude of other tools that could be used to accomplish our goals of building a calmer, gentler society. Did George Bush say that? If he did it was a great idea.
Now, how to we track this? The government could send out a log book and people would be nominally compensated for filling them out much like a Nielsen TV survey. And since honesty would be a hallmark of this edict, people would hopefully be truthful. If there are cheaters they would eventually be squeezed out by the overwhelming number of honest people.
You say this is a waste of money. I say you'’re absolutely and totally wrong!!!!!!
Think about the problems associated with poor behavior, bad habits and hostility. Crime, pollution, domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, drug and alcohol addiction, suicide, sexual abuse, prison time, emotional instability, dysfunctional families, traffic accidents, lack of services and on and on and on.
One can only fathom the costs of treating the ills of today's urban. If we as a society, collectively took the initiative to recreate ourselves as compassionate, considerate and helping individuals then the impact on our harsh, violent and troubled society would improve exponentially.
Over time we would be transformed as a nation. The love and caring that each of us possesses would be allowed to bloom like flowers in the spring. We would lose our fears, our stress, our mistrust our fractured, closed, class society.
So, I wave the scepter with the hope and prayer that we can become better than we are. We can solve our problems by becoming better people and spread a feeling of inclusion, concern, caring and love.
It'’s such a simple idea it'’s huge.