What Do YOU Do to Make the World Better?

I teach. I just started my 19th year of teaching secondary school (high school at the moment). Each day, I try to model what a responsible adult acts like. I also have the great honor of teaching a Holocaust class and an American Civil Rights class, both of which afford great opportunities for my students to explore how they, personally, are going to counteract intolerance and prejudice.

Also, I donate blood regularly, every six to eight weeks.

i try to live by the golden rule, not the more selfish version of it.

its treat people how you want to be treated, not treat people how they treat you.

So many get it mixed up

Talk less and listen more. My husband and I are both very consciensious of people around us. We always open and hold doors for people at the bank, grocery store, etc. If someone drops something I always pick it up for them. Being nice is so much easier than being mean. Being mean usually takes a calculation, being nice really comes pretty naturally once you tap into it. Most of us are just too self centered and not paying attention to those around us. We also pick up litter. We cant stand cigarette butts on the ground (and I'm a smoker!), so we always pick them up when they are ruining an otherwise beautiful landscape.

When you scratch all of the world's religions down to their basics, all of them have some variation of the "Do Unto Others" theme. Be nice, be kinder than you need to be. And being kind means giving other people the benefit of the doubt. Too many Americans are so worried about some one "cheating them" or "getting over on them": that they'll refuse to help ten people for fear of helping one who they think doesn't deserve the help. I would rather help ten people if it turned out that only one really needed my help. It is not my place to determine who deserves and who does not - it is my place to remember "I was hungry and you fed me....."

There are several things. One is being nice to people and making a humorous remark to lighten someone's day. Because I know what it is like to be snubbed or excluded because you are not part of a certain clique, I make an effort to make everyone feel included. I have a diverse mix of friends and aqaintances and I love it that way and I hope that I am setting a good example for my children so that they will form friendships not by superficial things like looks, wealth or connections but by what's in someone's heart and whether or not your personalities mesh.

Also, because I am a mom who has a 7-year old son with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, I know how scary it is when you first get the diagnosis. It can also be very socially isolating and very frustrating to round up services and figure out how to help your child, so I do make myself available to those moms who are walking down the same path that I have been down. I've been blessed to receive so much help from others in my community that it is a pay-it-forward kind of deal.

I also do some of the things that you have mentioned in your post if I see a need but I just try to be a good, open-minded, non-judgmental person. I am the one that I have to go to sleep with and wake up with in the morning so I do all this for no other reason than to have a clear conscience at the end of the day.

Such a wonderful idea for a post. Thank you for thinking about it.

Raise and educate my own kids, pay my taxes and give to charity.

I have a "weakness" for giving money (small amounts) to people asking for it by the side of the road. Maybe it's the wrong thing to do but I do it anyway.

I am teaching my son to love his neighbors, regardless of color, religion, beliefs or lack of beliefs. I am teaching him to respect peoples opinions even if they are different then his. I am showing by example how wonderful it is to surround yourself with different people and how similar we are despite are differences.

Aside from every day common courtesy with others' interest in mind, I am also raising my children to be respectable and productive members of society. I am doing my part to get rid of the "me" generation and am raising my kids with life-long lessons of morals, values and basic human respect. I teach them that everyone deserves respect no matter what. Even if you don't like someone, they are still a person and they still have a purpose in life. Basically we are using The Golden Rule as the basis of everything we do. It doesn't really matter what others do to/for you, you should ALWAYS treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Those are great things you did! If I have a coupon at a store & cannot use it, I will look for someone nearby purchasing the item on the coupon, and give them the coupon. They are always very grateful! I have done this frequently at Babies R Us & people are so appreciative. I was selling a nice, but gently worn office chair on a yard sale website. The woman came to pick it up (after getting lost the night before). When she arrived, I said she could take it for free. She was so happy. We had a garage sale last year selling my son's baby room decor. A pregnant couple bought a few of the items (I could tell they wanted more, but had a budget). So, I let them purchase what they wanted, then I gave them 2 additional pieces for free. They were thrilled, as their baby would now have a more complete bedroom decor. Random acts of kindness can change the world!

Sometimes I have to hold my tongue and keep my opinions to myself. If I didn't, I surely would tick off many people:) I try to live by the golden rule that silence is golden:)

I try to live by something a survivor of the Rowanda genicide said in a conference I attended. "When faced with the choice of being right or being kind, choose to be kind." I can't tell you how hard that can be at times (like when I'm cut off on the road or someone does something rude or says something that I want to argue with even though it doesn't matter), but I try to remember this and say it over and over again in my head if I need to so that I will make the right decision.

Thank you! I believe in constantly working to increase the Gross National Happiness as well as the Gross World Happiness.

Actually, one of the small things I do is check in with MamaPedia. My son is grown and I so remember the difficulties that challenged me as a young mother. There was so little support and it was hard to find good answers. There was no MamaPedia at that time. So, I read the daily digest whenever I have the time and add my voice to the responses. Sharing the beneficial things we learn as mothers so that we can raise children with stronger, happier, more caring characters is a pay-it-forward can keep paying for generations to come.

Kudos to all the mothers who improve the world as mothers!

I work in a nursing home laundry and wash the residents personal clothes, so I take them home if they need repaired or buttons sewn back on, etc. I also repair quilts, sheets, blankets. Most of the residents don't know they even had a hole in their clothes but I know and I would certainly want someone to repair my parents clothes if they were in a nursing home.

I love these stories and ideas, thanks for asking the question! I am a runner and I run my neighborhood at 5:00 in the morning, obviously most people aren't out at this time. If I see trash on the ground I will pick it up, also there is one house in particular that has lots of children living in it - there are always toys and sometimes even shoes and clothes in their front yard. (It may not be the tidiest house in the neighborhood!) Sometimes their toys end up in the street and are left there over night - I always pick them up and put them on the porch for them. It does feel good to help!