Slices of Life
Doing good
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“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” - John Wesley
There you have it. The recipe for a good life. On the surface it sounds pretty simple and straightforward, and it should be. But not always – in this world of ours that seems to make the simple complex.
But whether simple or complex, this recipe - sentence - is one thing for sure. It is beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful (albeit long) sentence ever composed.
While it is long (42 words for those who are counting) and complex, it doesn’t have to be.
Doing good should be simple. It is simple, and often involves so little.
It’s easy. If you allow it to be.
But let’s break it all down.
Do all the good that you can. How does a person do good?
The original sentence gives us this very answer: You do good using all your resources and creativity. You do it everywhere, all the time, to everyone. And you do it forever. You never stop.
When you think about it, and let it sink in, it’s pretty profound - beyond profound.
And it’s as simple as that famous tennis shoe company:
Just. Do. Good.
Except it isn’t always that simple, because life gets in the way.
Except for the hardships. Except for commitments. Except for responsibilities. Except for everything.
Except for sleepless nights when you have to go to work the next day and face the boss you greatly dislike and after that you also have to go to the grocery store and wade your way through the aisles alongside all the other after-work people who are tired and cranky and hungry.
Somewhere in amongst all that you are supposed to smile and wink and above and beyond all that do good?
Give me a break.
Life is hard. Some days it’s difficult just to face yourself in the mirror - much less do good for others. And then, there’s the big conundrum that I haven’t even mentioned.
What about me?
Because that’s pretty important. It’s hard to be kind to others if you aren’t kind to yourself.
Our own happiness, our own peace, our own well-being is important.
It truly is. But maybe perhaps not in the conventional line of thinking. Maybe we are assessing our own happiness from the wrong angle. Maybe our own happiness doesn’t depend on any angle at all.
Here’s the truth as I see it.
Happiness, peace and all the other positive descriptors for our lives don’t depend on the world around us.
All those things come from within.
You can’t find peace on a mountain top or from a sunset or an incoming tide. It has you find you, or more importantly you have to understand it has been with you - simply there for the finding - all along.
Peace is yours for the taking. You can find it at work - even during an unending meeting with your boss. You can find it at the grocery store - even when your cart is creaky and everyone around you is cranky and crabby. Even in the most dire of situations you can have peace. It’s always yours for the taking. It’s always yours for the having.
But before you, me - any of us can understand this – we have to come to terms with one thing: None of this is about us.
We tend to think it is about us. It’s practically in our DNA. And we certainly have the power to isolate and find our own peace and joy and all the good-feels that go along with that. But here’s the kicker:
We aren’t really supposed to seek out our own happiness. We are supposed to support that in others.
Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.
You see how that sentence doesn’t say anything (anything!) about satisfying your own desires?
It isn’t about you (or me). It’s about us. And when we finally embrace that thought – truly madly, deeply – we achieve not only personal happiness, but something one step above it: peace.
Jill Pertler is an award-winning syndicated columnist, published playwright and author. Don’t miss a slice; follow the Slices of Life page on Facebook.
