Proactive?

Do you think I'm supposed to be learning something here?

I'm not usually this hard-headed (stop giggling - stop it!), but I get the feeling that I'm being taught something that will be beneficial to me in living out this kingdom-life. Two instances, separated by time and geography, have come to mind today that show me how important it might be to be proactive rather than reactive in the day-to-day.

First, at church this past weekend, as we were filing out of the theater, I looked down and saw an empty sugar packet and empty creamer packet - and proceeded to step right over both pieces, minding my own business. I don't usually do that; I'm the guy who will bend down and pick that up, no big deal. I do it at work all the time around the coffee station, picking up stray pieces of pink and blue packets trying to escape. Why did I step over it this time? And then, looking back to see that the guy behind me did bend down and pick it up - what was he thinking of me? - I realized I'd missed an opportunity to just do what was right because it was right, an opp to be the person following through instead of being the person perpetuating the garbage problem.

Then the second instance, happening this morning at the printer in our office. When I left early yesterday, it was out of toner. I know where the toner is and how to change it. But I left the building without changing the toner, thinking that someone else would do it when they felt the urgency. There was a queue of documents lined up for the toner-less printer, and no one else had changed the cartridge. I did it right then - when I could've done it yesterday, when I could've helped others be a little more productive or saved them some of the headache of finding another printer to churn out their hardcopies. What was I thinking?

Maybe the lesson can be summed up in a bumper sticker slogan: "It's always the RIGHT TIME to do the RIGHT THING." Naah, too trite - but I know that if I'll pay more attention to doing the right thing when it's the right time, I won't have to make excuses for doing the wrong thing quite as often.