I believe most of us would like to do good in this world.

I know there’s that built-in self-survival thing that, over time, rises to the top and when our minds are a swirling mess of obligations and expectations, it’s easy to focus on ourselves and make everything around us secondary.

For me, I’ve always had a need to do good things, to surround myself with positive people and avoid those who live in the negative. (and there are SO many) Oh, sure, it’s their choice to live that way, but negative people thrive on negativity (thus, the name) and that includes dragging others into their downward spiral.

No, thanks.

Now, I’m going to tell you about three ‘good things’ that I did this past week NOT for the sake of blogging about them and thumping my chest. But, I gotta say, at the end of the week, I’m looking back and feeling like I put some positive energy out into that big chaotic world of ours.

Two of them have to do with the tragedy in Maui. We only know a fraction of the horror and the death toll. And while the Red Cross is always there, I’ve had concerns about how much of the money I donate to them actually makes it to the cause. But this isn’t about Red Cross bashing. I just wanted to make sure the dollars I would send to Maui actually reached the people in need.

I initially found The Hawaii Community Foundation which got high scores when it comes to using their money locally. They came up on Facebook and people were saying good things about them, so I made a donation.

Then my accountant (who lives most of the year in Hawaii, except for tax time) put in a plug for the Maui Food Bank. Coming from a guy who knows where dollars come and go and being a local, I made a donation to them. Both small financial chunks in comparison of the need, but every little bit helps.

Then, if you’ve stayed in touch at all with the news this week, besides the indictments, you heard about The Marion County Record in Kansas. The local Marion, Kansas police department raided the newspaper’s offices, confiscated computers, cell phones and a range of other reporting materials. Officers spent hours in the newsroom. They also seized material from one of its journalist’s homes. Eric Meyer, the publisher and co-owner of the newspaper, who said that his 98-year-old mother passed away the day after police raided her house, from the stress and strain.

All this because the newspaper had apparently received a tip about a sex scandal involving the police chief.

I mean, how Stalinistic can you get? In America? This one really bothered me.

Enough so I decided to just go online and subscribe. I really don’t care what happens in Marion, Kansas–well, I didn’t, but I do now. In any case, I subscribed and a couple of days later, received this from the above-mentioned Eric Meyer.

Oh, I don’t expect to become pen pals. I just wanted him to know that, last I heard, there still is Freedom of the Press in these divided States of America and that those kinds of antics won’t be tolerated. Although, between you and me, I think he’s got a lawsuit settlement on the way that should easily result in a new coffee pot in the break room.

Again, no great effort or great deeds done by yours truly. I just wanted to share because all of those things combined just made me feel so good. Helping. Doing something good. I highly recommend making a difference.

You know, it’s just not that hard.

Tim Hunter

PS: Nice article on why you should avoid being negative right here.