Zen College Life

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About a year ago I was faced with a comment that really struck close to home.  A person close to me made the statement, “what makes you such a good person? What do you do that is so good?”  At first I became really upset, I thought “how could you say that?”  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I considered myself a good person because I was not a bad person, not because I did anything necessarily good.  It was this realization that allowed me to turn my life around, to make minor and major changes and become a real ‘good person.’

Are you really a good person?

When I started to assess my actions, it became clear to me that I didn’t really do much for other people, especially people that I don’t know.  I spent most of my time having fun with friends and goofing off.  As far as valuable members of society goes, I was on the low end of the totem pole.  But I knew that I had good in me, that I was capable of being part of something greater, that I truly wanted to be someone good, not just for me or for those closer to me, but for all of humanity.  I wanted to do good and be great.

This may seem strange, but I really didn’t know where to start.  What is it that makes a person a good person?  I googled it, but didn’t find much (I know, who googles something like that?).  I decided to start small.  I made up my mind to never turn down a favor asked of me, no matter how large, if I could help someone.  Could I try and fix your computer? Sure.  Would I help you move? You bet I would.

Then I realized that as much as I did in this manner, my reach would only be those who I networked with, the people closest to me.  I wanted to do more, reach more people, make a greater impact.  Again I had no idea how to accomplish this, so I started with what I know.  I know that if you move a nail from the sidewalk, you save someone from stepping on a nail.  If you pick up a piece of trash whenever you see one, you keep your area looking clean and in great shape.  So this is what  I did.  Any time I see trash on the ground I pick it up and dispose of it.  Any time I see something that could potentially harm someone I do my best to remove it.  Sure, it’s still small, but the reach is outside of my circle of friends and family.

But this still wasn’t enough.  I didn’t feel satisfied that I was helping as many people as I could.  I needed to up the scale.  But I hit a ceiling.  I’m no professional, I don’t even have my bachelor’s degree yet, and I still have 3 years till I finish college completely.  What could I do, really?  That’s when the idea for Zen College Life hit me.  I may not be an expert, but I know a lot about college, especially what not to do.  And thus this gem was born.  It was a humble beginning, I knew very little about blogging, and if you have read any of my early stuff you can see that.  Also, I knew nothing about wordpress, my blogging software, so that took some real research.  But I stuck with it and now I’m 6 months in with a couple hundred subscribers, and many more actual readers.  While Zen College Life isn’t making me rich, I’ve recouped all of the blog’s costs, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I still feel like there is more I can do, and as soon as I figure out how to do more, you can bet I will.

Some small ways to be great

• Pick up trash whenever you can
• Smile at everyone you see, your smile may be the only one they get today
• Exploit your skills for good of those around you
• Donate your time to helping others
• Start that project you’ve been thinking about forever
• Enlist the help of other great people toward achieving humanitarian goals
• Recycle
• Donate to a great cause
• Be part of something greater than yourself
• Forgive everyone
• Educate yourself, not just in school, but in all aspects of life
• Educate everyone you can about anything you know
• Start a blog to reach people you couldn’t otherwise
• Spread the message of good humanity with everyone you know and meet
• Give Blood

What good do you do?  What tips do you have for me and other readers? I’d like for this to become a long list of tips, so share with everyone else, you’ll be helping us all become greater.

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