Part I–Can Kindness and Compassion Make a Comeback?
By Robyn Hall

From Representative Joe Wilson to Kanye West, from Serena Williams to our dear golden-tongued President, outrageous outbursts and crass curses are tumbling out of the mouths of celebrities and honorable citizens alike.  What the (bleep)?! has become of our society?  Rage is all the rage.  Rudeness is rampant.  Potty mouth is just part of pop culture. 

Yes, I realize we are all under a great deal of stress these days, and the worst turmoil can take down even the best of us.  I had my share of stress this summer – my son had surgery and my dog had 8 puppies.  I became the caregiver of 12 and definitely let my exhaustion and worry turn into ugly anger.  I had a wake-up call last week, when the rants of our heroes in the international headlines started to sound way too familiar. 

Our karma is seriously out of balance here, folks.  It’s time to rage against the rage.  We need to counteract all of this negative energy with an onslaught of courtesy, kindness, and tender loving care.  I’m calling this movement the Compassion Campaign – reach out to neighbors in your community or strangers across the globe, and do something good for someone else. 

I’m not talking about whipping out the checkbook and adding some more zeros.  I’m talking about rolling up your sleeves and using your hands and hearts to help others in need.   When you do hands-on volunteer work, you can feel the difference you are making in the world – in your heart, mind, and body.  In fact, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, doing good is good for you too; numerous studies have shown that behaving philanthropically not only improves a person’s mental health, it can also have a positive impact on physical well-being and longevity.  

Here are some ways to join the Compassion Campaign:

1.       Search and you will find – One of the wonderful things about the internet is that it has created a virtual marketplace connecting good people to good causes.  There has been an explosion of web sites that match volunteers with their passions, such as:
•         Serve.gov – what started as a tie-in with President Obama’s inauguration last year has morphed into a national online resource for finding volunteer opportunities in your community – all you have to do is type in your zip code, and opportunities to do good pop up.  http://serve.gov/
•         Volunteermatch.org – this pioneering web site was started back in the heyday of the dotcom boom, and in its 15 years has become the largest online network of volunteering opportunities, with a community of 6 million users, and is the preferred internet recruiting tool for more than 70,000 nonprofit organizations.  http://www.volunteermatch.org/

(To be continued this coming Thursday, October 1, 2009)