March Challenge: One Good Deed a Day

I hope you’ve been enjoying each monthly challenge here at She Dwells as I continue to focus on my word of the year. I’ve liked having a challenge for each month–one concrete way of helping myself become the person I want to be in the world each day. But this month, we’re taking a slightly different approach. Rather than providing a set of 31 daily challenges for March, we’re going to focus on doing one good deed a day.

If you’re a Christian, then you probably know that Lent begins today. Lent is the season in which we’re asked to think about the nature of sacrifice; that’s why some faith traditions encourage followers to give something up for Lent each year. I was raised Lutheran, and although this isn’t a tradition Lutherans observe in any official way, I’ve found in helpful to give up something important to me during Lent. It helps me be mindful of the kind of focus sacrifice requires of us.

More recently, following the lead of friends who observe Lent differently, I’ve taken up a Lenten discipline. Some years, that meant engaging with The Lent Project each day. (If you observe Lent, I highly recommend checking it out.) Other years, that meant taking 15 minutes a day to meditate. Last year, I took the time to clean out one paper file in my office each day, recycling what I didn’t need and thinking about how to be less wasteful in the future.

Even if you don’t observe Lent, of course, committing yourself to one good deed a day is an excellent practice. I don’t often think of good deeds through the lens of sacrifice, but each one–if it’s done in the right spirit, with a heart for being helpful, not the hope of praise–requires us to give up thinking about ourselves. That’s true if only for a few moments, while we’re thinking about someone else’s needs.

Good deeds don’t have to be grand gestures. They can be really simple things: holding the door for a parent who’s wrestling with a grocery cart and a small child, working on a craft project that you’re planning to give as a gift, picking up a piece of garbage and putting it in the trash. These are, of course, things we should all be doing on a regular basis. Maybe you already do them once in a while. But this challenge will help ensure that you’re a positive presence in the world, every single day, for the next month.

Here’s how to proceed:

1. Decide whether you’re more comfortable with a free-form plan, a structured plan, or a combination of the two. If you’re looking for structure, this One Good Deed a Day journal offers suggestions for an entire year of good deeds. This list of 102 acts of kindness is another great resource. I plant to take a combination approach. Some days, I’ll be planning out my good deeds in advance; when I don’t have a specific plan, I’ll look for a chance to be helpful. No good deed is wasted energy, so it doesn’t really matter which way you proceed. Choose whatever is most likely to work for you.
2. Decide how you want to hold yourself accountable. I plan to use a page in the journal I’ve use for blog planning (where I keep track of blog post ideas, passwords, etc.) and record my good deed each day. Like any plan, this one won’t come to fruition if you’re aren’t building in some kind of accountability. Be honest about yourself and determine whether you need a good deed buddy–a friend with whom you can check in daily–or if you’re more likely to benefit from a journal, calendar, or some other form of self-check.
3. Join the She Dwells community on Facebook, if you haven’t already, and share your good deeds with others! Keep the positive energy flowing. You might even inspire a good deed in someone else.

I’m looking forward to hearing about all the wonderful things you’ll be doing this month! With the entire She Dwells community on the job, this world will surely be a better place come April 1st.