Day 84 to 90 – "Passing it Forward"

One of my jobs recently was to meet-up with a well known celebrity and swap an Audi with him. I arrived at the rendezvous and made the swap and the celebrity gave me a £10 tip … very nice!

I returned to the Depot with the car and parked it up to be valeted. I went into the office and returned a while later to see, and hear, our valeter cleaning this car. He was cussing away about the filthy state the car had been left in and he was having a difficult job getting it into the pristine condition expected. I still had the £10 note in my pocket and felt that if anyone deserved this ‘tip’ it was our valeter.

I took the £10 note from my pocket and explained to the valeter where the money had come from and why I was giving the money to him. The valeter flatly refused to accept it and I was insistent he took it … the situation was in deadlock! The valeter then suggested I give the money to a good cause. I eventually agreed and I’m please to report that two Big Issues sellers benefited from the valeter's generosity.

The valeter taught a wondeful lesson to me that day, that we should always consider 'passing forward' our good fortune to those in greater need … I love this work!

This week’s other recipients of kind acts included:

11 x Gave cash to a charity

3 x Voluntary work with the local community association

1 x Put neighbours bin back after the bin men had been
3 x Held the door open for someone
2 x Cleared/picked-up rubbish in the neighbourhood
4 x Proactively ‘gave-way’ to a pedestrian
46 x Proactively ‘gave-way’ to another driver

1 x Gave cash to a Big Issue seller

1 x Struck up a cheery conversation with a stranger

1 x Gave money to a street beggar

2 x Replaced store’s merchandise that had fallen off the display
2 x Gave a cheery hello/good morning to a stranger

2 x Voluntary work as a mediation consultant

1 x Voluntary work as a respite carer

Sub total: 80

Running total: 909

Target: 3000+ in 12months

Commenced 30^th November 2011

Motivation for ‘’My Ten-a-day’

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, “I made a difference for that one.”