Friday, September 26, 2014

Want to play along? Introducing 44 Good Days Special Edition

In my initial post for this year's project, I made an offer to extend my "44 good days" by one day for each donation to the Triangle Autism 5k, but after a little thought, I decided to put an upper limit on that offer, just to be safe. As much as I love doing this, I just can't do it forever. I made an offhand comment that if it went over 60 days, I might have to recruit some volunteers to continue in my place.

Well, one of my good friends just offered to do an extra day even if I don't go over the limit... and at that moment, a little ping went off in my brain: Why didn't I think of that before?

People like following along as I do this each year, but not everybody can chip in with donations. Believe me, I understand. But wouldn't it be fun to invite people to participate in some other way? Wouldn't it be cool to see what kind of great things other people might come up with?

So here's the deal: If you want to do some randomly kind or charitable act for one day, let me know. You can repeat an idea you've seen here, find one someone else has done, or come up with your own -- whatever you feel inspired to do.

Then let me know about it, and I'll mention it here on the blog. Or if you want, you can write a guest post on here telling the rest of us about it.

I'm not too worried about the timing. It's too much effort to start assigning dates on the calendar to who can do what when. That's way too formal and sounds like a coordination nightmare. So if you're interested, just get in touch with me. Let me know what you did (or are planning to do) and when. Let me know if you want to do a guest post or just have me mention it, and whether you want to do it anonymously or not. And for the record, anyone is welcome to participate, even if you have no idea who I am (though of course I reserve the right to not post anything that doesn't fit in with the spirit of this project).

I'll include a separate post for each of these Special Edition Good Days and we'll see how far past 44 we can go.


So who's in?

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Planning ahead

This is my third year doing this project. Both of the previous times I felt happy, but also relieved at the end. And both times I thought it would be my last. There's a bit of pressure to keep it going every single day, even when you're not feeling it. And sure sometimes ideas or opportunities are scarce for one reason or another.

But somehow, time passes, summer winds down, and I feel like maybe I'd regret it if I didn't do it again. And as October approaches, I realize that of course I'd regret it. The amount of positive feedback I get from people like you always keeps me going right up until the end. People have said this project inspires them. Well you inspire me. Your comments, your words of encouragement, your donations, your own random acts, they motivate me much more than you probably realize.

So this year, I thought I'd try something different: Planning ahead. I know, I know. It's a little bit crazy. Well, don't worry, there's plenty more crazy in store so stick around.

I've already signed up for not one, but two 5k charity runs. If you're local and you'd like to run, walk, crawl, and/or keel over with me, please let me know.

My first run is on October 11th: The 16th annual Triangle Run/Walk for Autism, supporting autism research. This is for my daughter Amelia, who is 11 years old, and has severe autism.

My daughter Amelia
I'll make you a deal: For every donation made on my page, regardless of the amount, I will add one additional day of random charity and/or kindness to this project.* So if ten people donate, my 44 good days become 54 good days. You get the idea.




(* - I'd better cap this thing at 60 days, just to be safe... Otherwise I might need to recruit some additional participants to fill in for me.)

[UPDATE: Check out my 44 Good Days: Special Edition post if you'd like to play along with me!]

My second run will be three weeks later, on November 1: The LUNGe Forward 5k, supporting lung cancer research. This is for my mom, who has had more experience with lung cancer than anyone should. 

I'll make you a deal on this one too: If the total donations on my page exceeds $500, I will shave my head. Double that, and the facial hair goes too.



My mom, my younger son, and me
DONATE FOR THE LUNG CANCER RUN


And with that, I'd better get back to the exercise bike. I'm following a modified Couch-to-5k program because, I mean look at me! Do I look like a runner to you?