“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” ~ Desmond Tutu
You’re a kind and generous person. You have empathy and compassion and you want to make it all better for everyone everywhere. It’s noble, but also a path to paralysis.
We can be overwhelmed by all of the people in the world who need what we have to offer and what we’re willing to give. We often feel like the problems we face as a society are so large that we can’t fix them. And so we wait. We stall. We hope that one day we’ll wake up with that one brilliant idea that will let us have the degree of impact we want to have.
Whenever I feel like this, and it’s more often than I’d like it to be, I remind myself of this quote by Mr. Tutu.
Today we will not fix the whole world. Tomorrow we probably won’t do that either. But today, right now, there is something we can do. Something small, right where we are. We have to remind ourselves of the ripple effect – that beautiful phenomenon that causes the kindness of one person to become contagious and inspire kind acts of others.
We also have to remember that one small good act is not any better than any other. What you do for one person right now is as valuable as what you do for 100, 1,000, or 1,000,000 people because to that one person it might just mean everything. It might just turn their day around, their life around, and there are so many people who will benefit from that, most of whom we will never know and never meet.
What you can do is enough. The important thing is that you do it. Let the Universe worry about how your goodness ripples through the world. You just make sure that the goodness exists.
The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
View all posts by Christa Avampato
1 thought on “Beautiful: It’s Time to Do Your Bit of Goodness”
I love this. Thank you!
When I witness something sad and then find myself overwhelmed/consumed by all the sorrows of the world, everywhere (“woe is me!” “woe are us!” etc.), I try to come back to myself. This may sound backwards, focusing on myself when what I want is to help others, but it grounds me. I ask myself: What makes ME feel better?
The answer is a long list of anecdotes, most of them small acts of kindness:
– the corner store owner who told me not to worry when I realized I didn’t have my wallet. “Pay next time, no worries,” he said.
– the guy across the street who not only took the time to jump my car, but told me where to get a new battery.
– the teenager who helped an elderly man cross the street (because being *witness* to goodness lifts my spirits, too — it doesn’t have to happen to me!).
– the man at the airport who runs after me to hand me my driver’s license and plane ticket, both of which I (like a dunce) left at the security checkpoint…
– watching my boyfriend run down the beach to help a woman carry her heavy cooler to her blanket.
The list goes on and on, and proves you completely right. It’s the tiny acts, the acts-in-passing, the acts we may not even think about, that brighten the days of others and initiate that ripple of goodness. No good is too small to do!
Christa Avampato 
I love this. Thank you!
When I witness something sad and then find myself overwhelmed/consumed by all the sorrows of the world, everywhere (“woe is me!” “woe are us!” etc.), I try to come back to myself. This may sound backwards, focusing on myself when what I want is to help others, but it grounds me. I ask myself: What makes ME feel better?
The answer is a long list of anecdotes, most of them small acts of kindness:
– the corner store owner who told me not to worry when I realized I didn’t have my wallet. “Pay next time, no worries,” he said.
– the guy across the street who not only took the time to jump my car, but told me where to get a new battery.
– the teenager who helped an elderly man cross the street (because being *witness* to goodness lifts my spirits, too — it doesn’t have to happen to me!).
– the man at the airport who runs after me to hand me my driver’s license and plane ticket, both of which I (like a dunce) left at the security checkpoint…
– watching my boyfriend run down the beach to help a woman carry her heavy cooler to her blanket.
The list goes on and on, and proves you completely right. It’s the tiny acts, the acts-in-passing, the acts we may not even think about, that brighten the days of others and initiate that ripple of goodness. No good is too small to do!
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