#BeTheGood

Photos by KNW Photography

You guys – I wanna tell you about something super cool that I’ve had the chance to be a part of. Cents of Style and Jane.com recently challenged me to be a part of their #BeTheGood campaign. Secretly I was real excited to participate. Game on! Through this challenge, I chose to do a string of small acts of service. Here are my little stories!

Small act #1: My angel baby boy and I were out running errands over the weekend. We found ourselves at an outdoor mall with lots of metered parking, so for our first #BeTheGood act, we decided to add time to a handful of lucky meters whose time was running out. Pretty sure I could have used that favor like a gazillion different times in my life (I’m the queen of forgetting about my meter)! It felt good to help someone else avoid getting a nasty ticket.

Small act #2: One of our neighbors recently experienced a tragic loss in their family, so our second #BeTheGood act was to leave some flowers on their doorstep.

Small act #3: Baby boy and I were at it again (he’s the best (and cutest) little do-gooder I know). For our third #BeTheGood act, we cruised into a fast-food drive through and paid for the meal of the car behind us. You guys! I’ve never done that before! It was so fun! Loved it.

Small act #4: I take public transit to work twice a week. It’s always packed and seats on the train fill up quickly. For my fourth #BeTheGood act, I offered someone my seat. It’s something I’ve done lots and lots of times before in this commute, but somehow it felt a little more fun this time.

Small act #5: This one is tiny. It probably shouldn’t even be noted, but I’m gonna anyway. It happened on my commute on public transit again. There was a man standing nearby who, for several random reasons, reminded me of my dad. I instantly had the thought that I should text my daddy and let him know that I was thinking about him and that I loved the crap out of him. But you know how sometimes you have those thoughts but you don’t get to it right away, and then before you know it you’ve moved on to other things and forgotten all about it? Well, this time I just DID it. I texted my daddy right then and there, because so help me I wanted to make sure I followed the impulse! I’m counting that one as small act #5, because sometimes I think our families and those closest to us are the ones we need to be consciously trying to serve and uplift the most. Amiright?

One last thing: When I was in high school, I had a sunday school teacher who challenged us to #BeTheGood. She gave each member of the class a journal, and she told us that each day, she wanted us to write the following: one extraordinarily nice thing we did for someone, one nice thing someone did for us, and one way that we had seen God’s hand in our lives that day. I took on her challenge and began writing those three things, each and every day. I will never forget the result of that activity. I began it at the start of my senior year of high school – a time when, for whatever reason, I found myself feeling a bit lonely, a bit out of sorts, a bit down and out. I can attest to the fact that this exercise nearly single-handedly turned things around for me that year. It yanked me right out of that yucky, discouraging place and helped me get over the funk I was in. It also made me realize how much I truly had to be thankful for.

And ya know what? This activity had the same effect on me! My guess is that it would do the same for you! I challenge all of you to take a part in this movement and spread goodness throughout! Want to join in? Here are the deets:

1. Choose a good deed. It can be big or small!

2. Share your goods. Pick your favorite social channel (Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Twitter, etc.), but first, make sure to take a selfie (or something appropriate to your story), and share your story, big or small. Be sure to use these hashtags to help this campaign spread: #BeTheGood, #JaneCares and #CentsofStyle.

3. Tag 1-5 of your friends to do the same!

4. Look stylish while doing it! Jane.com and Cents of Style are selling these super cute #BeTheGood t-shirts on Jane.com. All profits made will be donated to Girls Inc., an organization that inspires girls to be strong, smart and bold.

Let’s do this thing guys! #BeTheGood!

Outfit Details:

BeTheGood t-shirt: Jane.com {buy here} | Blazer: H&M {similar} | Black Skinnies: Old Navy {buy here} | Heels: Steve Madden {similar} | Handbag: Express {similar} {splurge} | Aviators: RayBan via Sunglasses shop {buy here} | Bracelets: Bauble Bar {buy here} | Rings: Arm Candy Fashion {buy here}