Doing a Good Turn – Scout Style!

“A Scout is helpful and trustworthy, kind and cheerful, considerate and clean, wise in the use of all resources.”

Does this sound familiar?

It does if you’re in Scouts.

This is the Scout Law we recite at the start of our meetings. These are the values we vow to cherish as members of the Scout movement wherever we are on the globe.

Of all these worthy values, I’ve chosen kindness be the star of this post.

In our Scout group we decided to explore the many different ways in which kindness manifested itself around us.

In the spirit of our Cub Scout Promise “to do a good turn for somebody every day”, our members were given three ‘tasks’.

The first was to do a good turn for someone (and notice how great it felt!)

The second was to tell the group about a good turn that was done for you.

The third -and least obvious- was to notice acts of kindness around you, but for which you were neither the recipient nor the giver, only a witness.

The point of the second and third tasks was to enhance a sense of gratitude, appreciation and awareness.

The tasks were to be carried out by each member individually during the week following our meeting, and did not include collective Scout projects such as participating in the annual town cleanup or the food drive which we were planning on doing as a group later on.

Neither were we looking for ‘heroic acts of majestic bravery’. There’s usually no need for that in our daily lives. “Notice the small things,” we said. “A smile can make someone’s day.” The aim was to encourage everyday acts of kindness. It doesn’t take much to do a good turn, and the small things are often the most meaningful.

In the following meeting we had the utmost pleasure of sharing many gems of kindness. Here are a few examples, in no particular order:

- I held the door open for my friend who had her hands full.
- My sister picked up the eraser I had dropped and gave it back to me.
- Mommy hugged my little brother when he was crying.
- I said ‘thank you’ to the waiter at the restaurant.
- My teacher told me I did a good job.
- I saw a Scout leader helping another Scout leader carry stuff.
- I gave a compliment to a friend who deserved it.
- A friend wrote me a really nice email.
- My brother helped a younger child tie his shoe laces.
- You smiled at me when I was down. It made me feel better.

By the end of that evening I came to the conclusion that kindness was indeed all around us.

But if it isn’t, we should definitely spread it. Good turns are totally doable regardless of age and location, and they make our community –and our world- so much better.

Keep up your awesome work, Scouts!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Yours in Scouting,

Didi 
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