The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

These Paradoxical Commandments have six other companions, but the ones above are my favorites.  It’s not just the words, it’s the title…the paradox. Most days I try to be aware of who I am and what my presence and actions can do. Some days I am a better person than other people. I try to live a good life and do humane and moral things. Admittedly, I’m not always successful. It seems my indiscretions have a tendency to be “legendary” when they do transpire. Yes, a paradox.

But when I do good, I do very, very good.  Recently, we put our time, our money, and our bodies at the mercy of some very worthy people and causes…The MS Society, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), and Planned Parenthood. Admittedly, the LLS has my heart. Although their event was not as muddy or as heart-pumping as the MS Mudruckus, nor was it as intoxicating as only a Johnny Cash cover band at Big Boss Brewery can be, it was an inspiring and life-changing night. What the LLS does IS life-changing, and the people involved are some of the most generous and caring imaginable. People like Gina, and Mariah, and Valerie, and Erica, and Emily and Tiffany. They make a difference and do good, think big, build, and give the world the best they have…everyday.

The rest of us? Sometimes we get dressed up and drink and spend money for an awesome cause. We meet new friends and laugh with the old. Oh hell, do we laugh. We do good in our way.

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Aren’t all philanthropic efforts in some part a paradox? We do good in order to feel good about ourselves, our community and our society. We do good to make up for past indiscretions. We do good to selfishly honor a loved one. We do good even if no one else remembers it tomorrow. I do good because I know it’s worth it. The good is worth it.

To Learn More:

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or click on over to Purpose

MS Society – I don’t have a personal connection, but I do have an appreciation

Planned Parenthood – No matter what you believe, this organization has kept me and millions of other young girls from becoming a statistic