If you could give one piece of advice to the next generation what would it be?
1. Don’t play Pokemon Go near open water
2. It’s ok to swipe left (sometimes)
3. Do not believe everything you read on Buzzfeed
All are good pieces of advice, but here at #givingtuesday we’re about more than just the superficial things in life. We want people to do good stuff, and that means forgetting about pokedex and concentrating on something a little more meaningful.
So what does it actually mean – to do good stuff?
It’s not rocket science, and it’s pretty self explanatory. It means doing good for yourself and for others. The simplest way to do good stuff is to undertake small actions – like giving up your seat on a busy bus, or simply saying please and thank you.
But the best way you can do good stuff is by supporting a charity.
You could volunteer your time or make a donation to a charity of your choice. You could donate clothes, shoes, food, blood or books. Sell raffle tickets, tweet about your favourite cause, bungee jump, sky dive or abseil – all in support of a charity you care about.
And this year we want you to think about one other way that you could support charity – by leaving a gift in your Will. Doing good stuff can be a part of your whole life, from beginning to end, and as well as passing on advice to others, why not do good stuff by passing on your support to your favourite cause too?
However you choose to do good stuff it doesn’t have to be arduous or burdensome or difficult, but goodness wouldn’t it make the world a better place. Think about it for a second, how many times in a day do you lament the condition of society – the lack of generosity, the hardening of feelings towards strangers? It’s sad, but increasingly we are becoming less concerned with those who live right next door, and only more concerned with ourselves.
But that can change. If we all committed to doing good stuff on a daily basis the changes would be enormous.
And if we committed to passing that change on to the next generation with a gift in our Will, the changes would be permanent.
Doing good stuff isn’t difficult and it doesn’t have to expensive, but it will probably make you happier and it will definitely make the world a better place.
This blog was written for Remember a Charity – a campaign formed of over 160 of the UK’s favourite charities which works to encourage more people to consider leaving a charitable gift in their Will. This year they’re asking people to pass on some wisdom to future generations. Find out more @RememberCharity.