One Good Turn

This is probably going to sound cheesy, but oh well.

I was on my way over to my friends’ place today, and I needed to pick up something quick to eat on the way. I was tired, sweaty (I’d been exercising), and not feeling all that social. Perfect time to hit an In-N-Out drive-thru… except that sitting in your car in the drive-thru line wastes gas. You might as well get out and stretch your legs a little. It won’t take any longer. So that’s what I did.

Largely as a by-product of my wife training for a marathon, I’ve started running in the mornings more often.  I used to run at various times of the day, without any real planning or discipline.  If I was feeling lazy, I’d go for a run.  Just realized I hadn’t run in a month?  I’d go for a run.

One of the nice things I’ve discovered about running with the sunrise is all the other people you see out for a walk or a run.  Somehow, the attitude is a little different at that time of day.  So instead of the head-down, trudge-trudge running style I’m used to, today I waved and said hello to everyone I saw (probably 10 or 15 folks), and they all did the same to me.  It was a pleasant and encouraging way to start the day.

I’m giving today’s Good Turn to my better half. We were playing tennis with a couple friends, one of whom is new to the game and just learning the basics. My wife, who has played since she was young, took some time (at least a half hour, probably more) and gave her a few pointers, and helped her practice them too. The results were dramatic. I’m guessing (and hoping) that this will provide even more encouragement for our friend to keep learning the game and trying to improve.

Recently, I was looking for a certain type of store. I found one with good reviews on Yelp (a site for community reviews of local businesses), so I went to check it out, and sure enough, the people were friendly and they had a good selection. While talking to one of the guys there, I let him know how I found the store, and also that they were getting good reviews. I figured they’d like to know that people value their service and it makes a difference. He seemed appreciative and glad to know about Yelp, which he hadn’t heard of before.  So I guess I did Yelp a Good Turn too.  A good product or service deserves to be shared.

I’ve posted about carbon offset initiatives before, and there’s plenty of information on the Internet about them–how they work, the pros and cons, efficacy, and son on–so I’ll save that for now.  If you want to learn more, please start by checking out my previous post.

Earlier this year, after learning the harsh climate cost of air travel, I decided that from then on, I would “buy” offsets for any flights my wife and I take. I put “buy” in quotes because it’s not like you’re purchasing a product–it’s more like making a donation commensurate with the impact you wish you didn’t make.  And of course, it’s not a perfect solution, but it seems like it’s about the best I can do for now, and in my opinion it’s certainly better than nothing.

Anyway, this is all by way of explaining that I made a donation to offset the three tons of CO2 that resulted from our trip, last week, to visit my family in Michigan.  We don’t fly a huge amount, but I’ll continue to donate to offsets when we do.

One of the central tenets of Buddhism is treating all living things with respect.  This principle was on my mind yesterday as I discovered a large spider had created a web between my wife’s car and a nearby fence.

I knew I had to do something, since my wife doesn’t care much for spiders, and I couldn’t just let her walk into the thing this morning.  It wouldn’t be fair to her, or the spider, really.  So I decided to try to move it, as gently as I could, to a new home.  I picked it up (with a stick, mind you) and moved it to a more appropriate place, away from the car.  In doing so, I felt more compassion for the spider than I expected.  It was a beautiful creature, really, and it was scared.  I wish I could have just let it be, but we have to live together (spiders and humans) and I’d like to think I treated it with respect.

Our family was road tripping back home today (we spent a few days getting away from it all), and we decided to take the long way home so we could stop and visit my grandma (and some other family).  I don’t get to see her as often as I used to, so it was great to spend some time, however brief, catching up with her.  I know she enjoyed it too.  She’s getting older, but she still has a lot of spirit.  It’s inspiring.

Today I did something quite difficult for a “knowledge worker”:  Closed down my computer before reading all my email.  I’m spending time with my family, so I did a quick scan for anything urgent, and put off the rest for a more appropriate time.  It’s tough to pull yourself away, once you get started.

Today, my wife informed me I was complaining about something a little bit too much.  I caught myself just before I went on the defensive, since I know she wouldn’t say anything unless she considered it important.  Instead, I tried to just accept her criticism.

This morning, I was planning to go for a run with my wife (and Pepper, our tireless dog).  When her alarm clock went off, however, I wasn’t too interested, so I told her to go without me while I snoozed a little more.  But as I lay there, listening to her quietly get ready, I thought to myself, “come on, man, don’t be lazy,” and just before she left I popped up out of bed and hurried to join her.  It was a beautiful morning for a run.  Together.