A Day Well Spent

 

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Count That Day Lost
by George Eliot

If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went—
Then you may count that day well spent.

But if, through all the livelong day,
You've cheered no heart, by yea or nay—
If, through it all
You've nothing done that you can trace
That brought the sunshine to one face—
No act most small
That helped some soul and nothing cost—
Then count that day as worse than lost.

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) had it about right. She instinctively knew and wrote, almost 200 years ago, that doing small acts of kindness for others improves our own well-being and mental health. Click here and here to read more about the benefits of kind acts. 

Writing prompts:

• What kindness have you done today to ease someone's heart and make them smile? Write about what you did and the reaction of the other person.
• Has someone done something for you today that cheered your soul? Write about that and how it made you feel.
• Do you consider today well spent? If so, write about its successes. If not, write about what was lacking.