Over the weekend I did something that, I confess, I had never done before.
I spent an hour at dusk on Saturday evening walking a stretch of Fort Lauderdale Beach picking up trash.
It’s been very windy and choppy out at sea over the last few weeks, and so the “treasures” that had washed ashore were quite stunning.
Yes, there were your basics like bottle caps of every different size and color. And endless pieces of translucent plastic. Oh, and lots of plastic cutlery, straws, and condiment bottles. Perhaps they came from boats day tripping to the Bahamas?
And then there were the more surprising finds among the piles of seaweed. I picked up four different shoes – none of them pairs – and most of them covered in little shells. It was amazing to see how the worn out soles had attracted their own ecosystem out at sea. Then there were the multiple toothbrushes that, given the state of their bristles, I hoped had been used for cleaning something other than teeth.
We developed our own game where bottle caps where worth 20 points, except for the purple ones – those were worth 30! Shoes were worth 50 and every once in a while an extra-special find – usually a massive piece of plastic of some sort – was awarded with 100 points.
Once I told myself – well there is only an hour of sunlight left – just do it – the world opened up in two ways.
First, my natural desire for excellence kicked in. You can bet that once we started picking up trash, I moved from shore to seaweed methodically, picking up every bit of trash I found no matter how infinitesimal it was. There is confidence in action. This endeavor activated my desire to do any task – no matter how big or small – to the best of my abilities, and I felt proud.
Second, our actions attracted supporters. At first a few locals lauded us and shared that they, too, had noticed the poor state of the beach lately and done a similar trash collection. And then, a Russian mother and her college-aged son called out to us and said they’d love to join. We handed them an extra bag and our trash cleaning crew of two became four. We lamented about the state of the beach. We expressed wonder as we found new treasures that we didn’t know what to name. It was such a beautiful way to spend the evening.
Picking up trash on a Saturday evening served as a reminder to me that there is so much to be gained by saying YES and opening myself up to new experiences, especially ones that strike up resistance in me for whatever reason.
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I’d like to share with you on a more consistent basis 
That’s why for the next quarter, I’m going to experiment with three emails per week. On Mondays, I’ll share “Over the Weekend” reflections. On Wednesdays, I’ll share mid-week virtue card inspiration, and on Fridays you’ll receive all the announcements and exciting things that are going on over here at Soul Excellence Publishing. Let’s see what this deeper dialogue with you reveals to both of us!
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