Have you ever experienced times when you hear your mind/God?/heart telling you to do something, but you brush it aside, by rationalizing away, or, because you were too distracted, or thought maybe it wasn't too important, or that things would not change even if you obeyed? (amongst other things)

In the last 3 days, i had one or two of these promptings which i didn't obey. And mind you, regret is not a nice feeling.

And i think one of the main reasons why i failed to obey (i used to do so all the time because i didn't want to leave anything to chance) was because i was not receiving tangible feedback that what i had done had any impact on anyone or anything.

That's not a good reason to stop of course, but i guess as humans, we need a little encouragement that we have made a contribution somehow. Ah, part of Keyes and Magyar-Moe's social well being theory... "Social Contribution: the assessment of whether one is of value in society".

Knowing that we have made an impact keeps us going, it eggs us on by giving us hope that in doing what we are doing, it will fulfill a purpose, even if we cannot see it immediately.

Of course, rewards can either come quickly, or after a long, tedious process. Both of which we can't really control to begin with. All we can do is to be the trigger, the starter. The important thing is to just do the right thing even in the face of emptiness or bleakness.

If all the tiny millions of neurons in our brains (sitting high on our bodies in the main control centre that is The Head) went on strike and chose not to pass on their electrical and chemical messages through one another, we'd not be able to function at all. Similarly, if i went on strike and chose not to to the right thing, God cannot use me to move and change situations.

As for those on the receiving end... Hey, if someone has made an impact in your life today, or if you know someone who needs a little credit for their deed(s), why not be open to them about it. You never know how you can be that trigger in their lives as well.

So... Encourage someone today! Give out those free power gels (carbohydrate loaded food used by athletes)! Run beside a fellow friend/enemy in their hard and hot race of life and offer your towel (for enemies, maybe you can take the opportunity to pour water over their heads instead. Heh.)! Sms or call someone to check on them! Observe and give praise!

Why not?
And besides, you don't need a prompting before you do something good for someone.