Vitamin "G"

Vitamin “G”

I’ve heard it said that as a society, Americans are the most overfed and undernourished group on earth. We love our junk food. We seem to enjoy it most when we are binge watching trash TV. There is also a saying that my late, great grandma used to say, “garbage in, garbage out.”

My dear friends, it would seem that all of the above is truer today than ever before. We feed our minds as much junk as we feed our bodies. Yet we expect to be able to turn our brains on whenever necessary or feel like we can move mountains whenever possible. As someone who is guilty of loving a good bowl of Doritos while binging a season of Suits with the wife, I confess I am grown deficient in Vitamin G. What is this elusive but incredibly necessary vitamin you may ask? Not familiar with Vitamin G? Well, Vitamin G is…

Goodness.

If it’s true that garbage in, garbage out holds some truth for us, then what happens when we change the word that starts with the letter G in that statement? Goodness in, goodness, out. A podcast that will be dropped later this week will go into greater detail about doing good for us more than the people it benefits. But I want to take a moment to think about that concept. A kind act should be something we all actively look to do for others on a daily basis. Kind acts make the world around us, well, kinder. But if we were to prioritize why we should do those acts, my prioritized list may surprise you. I seek to do kind acts for me. WHAT? Steve, how could you be so selfish? Let me answer those questions with this analogy. Who do we take vitamins for? Who do we strive to be healthy for? Sure, friends, family et all are on the list, but number one on the list should be for yourself. Only we know how we truly feel all the time. Healthy habits are so we can feel better, thus being better for others on the list. If I am not in a good or kind place, how can I truly be good and kind to others? Vitamin “G” is for me to take. Once my goodness levels are high, then I can truly exude a good life all the time.

Another reason I feel doing kind acts are for us first, not the stranger we do them for, is because we are not beholden to their reaction to our kindness to gauge its effectiveness. I wrote before about holding doors open for people and how upset I would get if the person I held the door for didn’t seem at the very least appreciative of the act. Well, my friends, no more. I hold that door open to offer myself a deposit of Vitamin G. If they choose to accept the Vitamin G I’m offering, that is up to them and my reaction to their reaction is muted. Check out the podcast that will drop midweek this week on Spotify for a more in-depth look at this idea.

If we choose to advocate for more joy as our mission statement for the Tribe of Up suggests, shouldn’t that start with ourselves? If we don’t fill our emotional bank accounts first, how can we give away withdrawals if we don’t have any deposits? Fill up those accounts with a healthy amount of Vitamin G dear friends. The world will notice our goodness and maybe, just maybe, we can put down those Doritos too.

Steve is a Dexter resident and owner of Better Place Consulting. We specialize in success coaching, Vitamin G therapy and filling kindness bank accounts. Reach out to him at steve@betterplacemgmt.com