PEBBLE
Do the doing for the doing.
~Dimitrios Papadakis, shared by Timothy in Ocala, FL
BOULDER
Too much thinking kills charity and diminishes genuine altruism. So if you have a charitable impulse, don’t think. Just do the doing for the doing.
-Timothy Hartfield, written and shared by Timothy in Ocala, FL
PONDER
Earlier this year I was having a fun and wide-ranging Zoom conversation with fellow creative Timothy Harfield who I was randomly matched up with for a virtual coffee chat through Patreon. We were talking about time management stuff, and how challenging it is to squeeze everything in to our already jam-packed schedules. At some point he mentioned a phrase he attributed to his friend Dimitrios that we feature as today’s Pebble. It turns out that Dimitrios had come up with it during a conversation they were having a year earlier while grieving the untimely loss of Timothy’s brother Stephen.
I emailed Timothy after our great chat and asked him to share a little more about the phrase. He initially wrote out several paragraphs in an email, and ended up posting it on LinkedIn.
This is how Timothy unpacked Dimitrios’ succinct wisdom:
DO – do the thing and do the thing now
THE DOING – we’re not talking about a discrete, one-off act. We’re talking about the practice of doing rather than getting to done.
FOR THE DOING – for its own sake. No hope for reward. No fear of what others might think or how they might interpret the charitable thing a you do.
A few weeks ago, a Rippler responded to a recent issue with a commnent about recommiting herself to follow through on intentions to reach out to those who are on her mind. “It may be nothing more than a quick text, email or phone calll,” Jane wrote, then added, “…yet I know I will not be disappointed with myself as I have followed through.”
I love the feeling I get when I encounter and then seize an opportunity to unleash a small kindness. It’s also true that I let a certain number of those opportunities pass by due to what Timothy calls “some irrational inhibition.” I sometimes hesitate because I worry the act might be perceived as self-serving, or that it’s “too small a thing” to actually expend energy. Just yesterday while walking to the post office, I spied a shopping cart that was several blocks away from the store it belonged to. It was a little out of my way, and I knew the act wouldn’t be directly experienced by anyone as a helpful gesture. Still, sneaking the cart into the store and then stepping back out into the fresh air and sunshine lifted my spirits even more than the brisk walk already had.
I know you know all of this, and I’m guessing you can think of a time when it felt good to “do the doing for the doing.” Just keep it in mind as you move through your busy life this week. Keep your eyes and ears open for a bonus opportunity to trust your kindness instincts. Do it!
Peace,
Paul
