One random act of kindness

Hello Readers,

I have been thinking of the impact the slow-down of the economy may have had on NGOs. In fact, I posed this question on LinkedIn. There were several suggestions on how best to continue to maintain Corporate Social Responsibilty programs during the downturn. Some key suggestions were:

• Let employees volunteer during office time
• Let people know where their money is going
• Individuals must now stand up for what they believe in, rather than letting employers play the lead role

If you would like to have a look at all the answers, click here.

I am sure I am suffering from a mid life crisis, because a part of me, wants to move on to something that can be more socially responsible. Government aided programs are not enough, further thanks to corruption and the multitude of layers the money flows through, perhaps the end receiver does not end up with what is rightfully his/hers.

While I scoffed at the Book, The Secret, sometimes I do feel that perhaps the 'Force of Attraction' concept does work in some way. I hated this book because my interpretation of its teachings is Make a wish and then let the Universe do its bit. I am too much of a cynic to buy this logic.

Anyway, to come back to the point, I switch on the telly, zoom down to a movie channel and not to my usual fare of News, Discovery, National Geographic and I end up watching "Evan Almighty". Here God appears towards the end of the movie and tells Evan that the way to change the world is by doing one act of random kindness.

This has provided me with a ray of hope. When confronted with scenes of grief and misery, I tend to quesiton superior powers and the inequity that prevails. I haven't found an answer to that as yet. All that I have found strangely enough, through a movie, is a straw to clutch onto. Every tiny act of random kindess does help in a little way. Perhaps I don't need to search for that elusive CSR oriented job, for which I may not even be qualified.

Yet, I need to concentrate on my own random acts of kindness, so do you.

God Bless

Lubna