Back in July when I booked this trip to Australia to see my family and friends, I decided I wanted to take the opportunity to do something memorable during my time here.
It has been two years since my last trip, and those two years have been challenging, to say the least. And because a lot has also happened for some of the people I know and love here in this beautiful country that I still think of as my home, I thought it would be fun to do something quirky and unexpected.
Unfortunately, as it’s turned out, what I wanted to do isn’t going to work out quite the way I had hoped, and while I’m still committed to a variation of that particular theme, it won’t have quite the reach I originally intended. Or will it?
That’s where you come in.
You see, I’ve decided to make Thursday November 16 “Do Something Nice for Somebody” day. And I’m inviting you, and anyone you care to share this with, to do something nice for somebody on that day – just because you can.
Far be it for me to tell you what to do, so let me just say it could be a smile or a kind word, a good deed or an attentive ear, a donation or a helping hand, saying hello, sorry or thank you, on a small scale or big, for a stranger or a friend, etc., etc.
I was so excited about my Plan B that I decided to start as soon as I arrived. In the past week, I donated my time and expertise to a worthy cause, complemented someone on a job well done, helped two tourists navigate the train schedule, let a car pull into the lane in front me without grumbling – ooh, that’s something quirky and unexpected right there! – and am currently writing an article about donating time, money and items to those in need.
Of course, you don’t have to tell me what you did for somebody on that day, or even if you did anything at all … unless you want to. And you don’t need to wait until then or only do something nice on that day. Thursday November 16 just seems like as good a day as any to do something nice for somebody, don’t you think?
Whatever you decide, don’t be surprised if once you start, you won’t want to stop. And if that happens for just one person, then what I wanted to do will have the reach I originally intended, and it will all work out exactly the way I had hoped.
PS And what was the memorable thing I wanted to do during my time here? Well, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer to find that out.