Good deeds Archives
I was in Oxford a few weeks ago for the national convention of the AHS (the National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies) of which I am a trustee.
Part of the convention included some training for the society committees that were attending, one of which was on leadership which I sat in on to add my thoughts and advice.
Once of the big things that came out of it was that the biggest de-motivational factors in student society committees is when you are doing something and other people in the committee aren't doing anything. It just takes one or two people to not pull their weight and you end up feeling "why should I bother?"
This is something that I have experienced first hand during my time serving on the committee at Leeds Atheist Society and I think it's a very good point.
It does work the other way however - there is nothing more motivating and inspiring than when everyone else on the committee is working really hard. When you see this, it gives you a sense of responsibility but also inspires you to really put the effort in and make the society amazing.
I also find the same situation in the flat I share with two of my friends. If the place is a tip and nobody else has done any cleaning, I find it very hard to do any myself.
Conversely if the place has recently been cleaned I feel I need to pull my weight and indeed want to give it that extra sparkle to make sure the whole place looks great.
It occurs to me that the same is probably true of the wider society too.
For example if your neighbourhood is run down, there is graffiti everywhere, people just throw litter on the streets then it is incredibly disheartening.
But on the flip side, if everyone has a positive attitude and does there bit it will inspire everyone else around you to do their bit too.
So while it may not seem like you are making a difference when you pick up some litter, help out someone in distress or even something as simple as holding a door for someone, the difference is probably actually bigger than you think. Not only have you done a good deed but you also may well have inspired those around you to go on and do good deeds as well.
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Our next event is on Sunday 1 July 2012. The meeting starts at 5:30pm. More...