(adapted from Woods Wisdom - Scoutmaster's Minutes)
Who can tell me what the Scout slogan is? That's right. Do a Good Turn Daily.
The Boy Scout Handbook tells us that a Good Turn is an extra act of kindness. It might be a big thing like saving somebody's life with courage and skill. Or it could be a small act like picking up trash on the street or helping a child get his kite out of a tree.
There are two good reasons for doing Good Turns. One of them, obviously, is that it makes other people happy. But you will find, if you do a Good Turn daily, that it makes you feel good, too. Baden-Powell, the man who started Scouting in England more than ninety years ago, said this about the Good Turn, "The real way to get happiness is by giving it to other people."
Every one of us should do our Good Turn daily. Are you? If you don't think about it very often, it's a good idea to start now. We'll remind ourselves in April when we do a troop Good Turn at the Scouting for Food Drive. But if you have the Scouting spirit, you will do your best to follow the Scout slogan in your daily life with some small service to your family, your teacher, your friends, or a perfect stranger.
Last Revised 10/2/2001